冲绳 (Chōng shéng) — Okinawa (prefecture/place name in Japan)

Definition

noun

Okinawa (prefecture/place name in Japan)

冲绳。
Míng nián shǔ jià wǒ dǎ suàn qù Chōng shéng lǚ yóu.
I plan to travel to Okinawa next summer vacation.
冲绳。
Chōng shéng Wèi yú rì běn de zuì nán duān.
Okinawa is located at the southernmost tip of Japan.
冲绳。
Chōng shéng De wén huà hé rì běn běn tǔ yǒu hěn dà bù tóng.
Okinawa's culture is very different from mainland Japan.

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 衝; 冲 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 冲 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (冲, 冲动) it is 衝; in others (冲) it is 沖.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

重

Same sound today

The traditional form 衝 shows 重 inside 行, with 行 as the meaning part and 重 as the sound part; the simplified 冲 is a later shorthand.

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 繩; 绳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mì

Sound part声符shēngfú

黽

黽mǐn繩shéng

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

The traditional form 繩 is built from 糸, the rope/string part, and 黽, the sound part.