佐治亚 (Zuǒ zhì yà) — Georgia (U.S. state)

Definition

noun

Georgia (U.S. state)

佐治亚。
Zuǒ zhì yà Shì měi guó dōng nán bù de yí gè zhōu.
Georgia is a state in the southeastern United States.
佐治亚。
Wǒ míng nián dǎ suàn qù Zuǒ zhì yà lǚ yóu.
I plan to travel to Georgia next year.
佐治亚。
Zuǒ zhì yà De xià tiān hěn rè.
Georgia's summers are very hot.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

The characters 佐治亚 here carry no meaning of their own; the word spells the foreign name Georgia.

Sound-only characters

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

亻左佐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

左

Same sound today

佐 combines 亻, a person, with 左, which provides the sound zuǒ.

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

台

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亞; 亚 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 亞 likely shows an overhead view of a construction, perhaps a 亞-shaped tomb. Its later simplified form 亚 is just a shorthand.