南京市 (Nán jīng shì) — Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province)

Examples

南京市。
Wǒ qù nián qù guò Nán jīng shì.
I went to Nanjing last year.
南京市。
Nán jīng shì Shì jiāng sū shěng de shěng huì.
Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province.
南京市。
Nán jīng shì De qiū tiān fēi cháng shū fu.
Nanjing's autumn is very comfortable.

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.

南京southern capital

南nánsouth京jīngcapital

偏正Modifier + head

南 and 京 form the capital name, and 市 adds the city sense.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

京 originally drew a tall building.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī市shì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

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