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保加利亚 (Bǎo jiā lì yà) — Bulgaria

Definition

noun
Bulgaria

Examples

  • 保加利亚。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Bǎo jiā lì yà lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Bulgaria next year.
  • 保加利亚。
    Bǎo jiā lì yà De shǒu dū shì suǒ fēi yà.
    The capital of Bulgaria is Sofia.
  • 保加利亚，。
    Tā lái zì Bǎo jiā lì yà, shì bǎo jiā lì yà rén.
    He comes from Bulgaria and is Bulgarian.

Origin

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.

保bǎo
加jiā
利lì
亚yà

The characters “保加利亚” carry no meaning of their own here; they spell the foreign name Bulgaria.

Sound-only characters

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →

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.

Open 亚 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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