厄尔尼诺 (E ěr Ní nuò) — El Niño

Definition

noun
El Niño

Examples

  • 厄尔尼诺。
    E ěr Ní nuò Shì yì zhǒng qì hòu xiàn xiàng.
    El Niño is a climate phenomenon.
  • 厄尔尼诺。
    E ěr Ní nuò Huì yǐng xiǎng quán qiú de tiān qì.
    El Niño affects global weather.
  • 厄尔尼诺。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū E ěr Ní nuò.
    Scientists are studying El Niño.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

厄è
尔ěr
尼ní
诺nuò

The characters 厄尔尼诺 only spell the imported name and carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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
卪卪jiéjoint; node
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng厄è
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 厄 may come from a drawing of a kneeling figure 卪 with a small stroke 厂 marking the knee.

Open 厄 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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

The shape draws one person sitting on or leaning against another person, giving the sense of stopping close to someone.

Open 尼 →

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 諾; 诺 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword, speak
Sound part声符shēngfú
若
若ruò諾nuò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 諾 pairs 言, meaning word or speak, with 若 as a sound part, for an affirmative answer. The simplified 诺 is a later shorthand.

Open 诺 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.