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北边 (běi biān) — north side; northern part

Definition

noun
north sidenorthern part

Examples

  • 北边。
    Wǒ jiā zhù zài běi biān.
    My home is on the north side.
  • 北边。
    Chéng shì de běi biān yǒu yí gè dà gōng yuán.
    There is a big park in the northern part of the city.
  • 北边。
    Cóng běi biān chuī lái yí zhèn lěng fēng.
    A cold wind blows from the north side.

Origin

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.

北běinorth
边biānside

北 means north and 边 means side, so the word points to the northern side.

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 邊; 边 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuòwalking; movement
Sound part声符shēngfú
臱
臱mián邊biān(r)
Same sound today

The traditional form 邊 pairs 辶 (walking; movement) with the sound part 臱; the simplified 边 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 边 →
Appears in
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