古城 (gǔ chéng) — ancient city, ancient town | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ancient cityancient town

Measure word · 座

Examples

古城。
Zhè zuò gǔ chéng yǒu shàng qiān nián de lì shǐ.
This ancient city has a history of over a thousand years.
古城。
Yóu kè men xǐ huan zài gǔ chéng lǐ pāi zhào.
Tourists like to take photos in the ancient town.
古城。
gǔ chéng De chéng qiáng bǎo cún dé hěn wán zhěng.
The city walls of the ancient town are very well preserved.

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.

古gǔancient

The ancient part describes the city part, yielding an old city or town.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

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

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng城chéng

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Appears in

City & Urban History

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