中南部 (zhōng nán bù) — central-southern region; middle-south region

Definition

Compound region label meaning 'the central-southern part' of a country or island (e.g. Taiwan, China). Pair it with 的 before nouns; it is not used on its own to mean a specific province.

noun
central-southern regionmiddle-south region

Examples

  • 中南部。
    Wǒ zhù zài tái wān de zhōng nán bù.
    I live in central-southern Taiwan.
  • 中南部。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng wǒ men qù le zhōng nán bù de jǐ gè chéng shì.
    On this trip we visited several cities in the central-southern region.
  • 中南部。
    zhōng nán bù De tiān qì bǐ běi bù nuǎn huo.
    The weather in the central-southern region is warmer than in the north.

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.

中南central-southern
中zhōngcentral南nánsouth
联合Side by side
部bùpart

中南 (central and southern) + 部 (part) names a central-southern region.

Characters in this word

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 南 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →

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