俄勒冈 (E lè gāng) — Oregon (US state)

Definition

noun

Oregon (US state)

俄勒冈。
Tā míng nián xiǎng qù E lè gāng lǚ xíng.
He wants to visit Oregon next year.
俄勒冈。
E lè gāng De sēn lín hé hǎi tān fēi cháng měi lì.
Oregon's forests and beaches are very beautiful.
俄勒冈。
Hěn duō gāo kē jì gōng sī dōu kāi zài E lè gāng.
Many high-tech companies are located in Oregon.

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 俄, 勒, and 冈 carry no meaning of their own here; 俄勒冈 spells the place name Oregon.

Sound-only characters

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

亻我俄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

我

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

俄 pairs 亻 (person) with 我, which gives the sound.

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

革力勒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

力

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

勒 pairs 革 (leather), because bridles are made of leather, with 力, which gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.