华盛顿州 (Huá shèng dùn zhōu) — Washington (US state)

Definition

noun
Washington (US state)

Examples

  • 华盛顿州。
    Měi guó de Huá shèng dùn zhōu wèi yú xī hǎi àn.
    Washington State is located on the West Coast of the United States.
  • 华盛顿州。
    Qù nián wǒ qù le Huá shèng dùn zhōu de xī yǎ tú lǚ xíng.
    Last year I traveled to Seattle, Washington State.
  • 华盛顿州。
    Huá shèng dùn zhōu De shǒu fǔ shì ào lín pǐ yà.
    The capital of Washington State is Olympia.

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.

华盛顿Washington
华huá盛shèng顿dùn
音译Transliteration
州zhōustate

华盛顿 spells Washington and carries no meaning by itself; 州 means state, so the whole names the US state.

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.

Open 华 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
皿皿mǐn
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng盛shèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盛 combines 成 as a sound part with 皿 as a meaning part; the 皿 side points to a vessel, which fits meanings such as hold and fill.

Open 盛 →

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 頓; 顿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún頓dùn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頓 combines 屯, drawn as a kneeling person's head, with 頁, and expresses a bow or kowtow. The simplified 顿 replaces 頁 with 页.

Open 顿 →

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.

Open 州 →

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