卡宴 (kǎ yàn) — Cayenne (capital of French Guiana)

Definition

noun
Cayenne (capital of French Guiana)

Examples

  • 卡宴，。
    Wǒ qù guò kǎ yàn, nà lǐ tiān qì hěn rè.
    I've been to Cayenne; the weather there is very hot.
  • 卡宴，。
    kǎ yàn Shì fǎ shǔ guī yà nà de shǒu dū, rén kǒu bù duō.
    Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, with a small population.
  • ？卡宴。
    Nǐ zhī dào ma? kǎ yàn zài fǎ guó hǎi wài lǐng tǔ.
    Did you know? Cayenne is in a French overseas territory.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

卡 is made from 上 (up) and 下 (down), with their horizontal lines fused, showing something squeezed between above and below.

Open 卡 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
妟
妟yàn宴
Same sound today

宴 has 宀, a roof, above 妟, which shows a woman and the sun. 妟 also supplies the sound, and the whole shape pictures a woman under a roof with sunlight.

Open 宴 →

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