北爱 (běi ài) — Northern Ireland (abbreviation)

Definition

adjective
Northern Ireland (abbreviation)

Examples

  • 北爱。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù běi ài lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Northern Ireland next year.
  • 北爱。
    běi ài Shì yīng guó de yí bù fen.
    Northern Ireland is part of the UK.
  • 北爱？
    běi ài De tiān qì zěn me yàng?
    What's the weather like in Northern Ireland?

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

Open 北 →

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 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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