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东德 (Dōng dé) — East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, 1949–1990)

Definition

Short form for the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990), the Soviet-aligned half of divided Germany. It pairs naturally with 西德 ('West Germany'); use 德国 today for the reunified country.

noun
East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, 1949–1990)

Examples

  • 东德。
    Dōng dé Céng jīng shì lěng zhàn shí qī de yí gè zhòng yào guó jiā.
    East Germany was once an important country during the Cold War.
  • 东德。
    Bó lín qiáng bǎ Dōng dé hé xī dé fēn kāi le.
    The Berlin Wall separated East Germany and West Germany.
  • 1990东德。
    1990 Nián Dōng dé zhèng shì bìng rù xī dé.
    In 1990, East Germany was formally incorporated into West Germany.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

东dōngeast
德déGermany

东 means east and 德 abbreviates Germany, so the name denotes the eastern part of Germany.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 東; 东 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 東 originally drew a full bag tied at both ends. The simplified 东 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 东 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìroad
Sound part声符shēngfú
惪
惪dé德dé
Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

Open 德 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsHistory

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