关岛 (Guān dǎo) — Guam | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Guam

关岛。
Wǒ xiǎng qù Guān dǎo lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Guam.
关岛。
Guān dǎo Shì tài píng yáng shàng de yí gè dǎo yǔ.
Guam is an island in the Pacific Ocean.
关岛。
Míng nián gōng sī pài wǒ qù Guān dǎo chū chāi.
Next year the company is sending me on a business trip to Guam.

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.

关 represents the foreign name, and 岛 means island, so the word names an island.

Characters in this word

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

門門méndoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢇅

𢇅𢇅關guān

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

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

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 島; 岛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

鳥

鳥niǎo島dǎo

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

The traditional form 島 uses 山, meaning mountain, and 鳥 for the sound. The simplified 岛 is a later shorthand.

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