何方 (hé fāng) — (literary, pronoun) where, which direction/place | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary 'whither, where to' — which place or direction, used in formal or written Chinese, almost never in everyday speech.

pronoun

(literary, pronoun) wherewhich direction/place

Examples

何方？
Nǐ jiū jìng yào hé fāng qù?
Where exactly are you going?
何方，何方。
Bù zhī hé fāng lái, bù zhī hé fāng qù.
Come from nowhere, go to nowhere.
，何方？
Miàn lín kùn jìng, wǒ gāi hé fāng qiú zhù?
Faced with difficulties, where should I seek help?

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.

方fāngdirection

何方 combines 何 what and 方 direction to ask where something is.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

人人rénperson
戈戈gēdagger-axe

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

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