佛罗里达州 (Fó luó lǐ dá zhōu) — Florida (U.S. state)

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

佛 is made from 亻, a person, and 弗, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

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

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.