中西部 (zhōng xī bù) — central and western regions (of a country, espe…

Definition

noun

central and western regions (of a country, especially China)

中西部。
Zhōng guó zhōng xī bù de jīng jì fā zhǎn sù dù hěn kuài.
The economic development of China's central and western regions is very fast.
中西部。
Tā lái zì měi guó zhōng xī bù de yí gè xiǎo zhèn.
He comes from a small town in the American Midwest.
中西部。
zhōng xī bù De nóng yè zī yuán fēi cháng fēng fù.
The agricultural resources of the central and western regions are very abundant.

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.

中西central and western

联合Coordinate

部bùpart/region

中 “central” and 西 “western” joined with 部 “region” name the central-western regions.

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

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.

Appears in