华府 (huá fǔ) — Washington, D.C. (abbreviation of 华盛顿)

Definition

noun

WashingtonD.C. (abbreviation of 华盛顿)

华府。
Wǒ míng nián yào qù huá fǔ liú xué.
I'm going to study abroad in Washington D.C. next year.
华府。
huá fǔ Shì měi guó zhèng zhì de zhōng xīn.
Washington D.C. is the center of American politics.
华府。
Tā zhù zài huá fǔ yǐ jīng shí nián le.
He has lived in Washington D.C. for ten years.

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.

华huáWashington

府fǔgovernment seat

华 here points to Washington and 府 to a government seat.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

广付府

Meaning part形符xíngfú

广广guǎngbuilding

Sound part声符shēngfú

付

Same sound today

府 shows a type of building with 广, while 付 gives the character its sound.

Appears in