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同化 (tóng huà) — to assimilate (into a dominant culture or system); (in linguistics) to undergo phonological assimilation; to converge

Definition

同化 (tónghuà) is the formal/academic verb 'to assimilate': in sociology, being absorbed into a dominant culture or group; in linguistics, when adjacent sounds converge (e.g., two sounds merging into one).

verb
to assimilate (into a dominant culture or system)(in linguistics) to undergo phonological assimilationto converge

Examples

  • 同化。
    Yí mín hěn nán wán quán bèi dāng dì wén huà tóng huà.
    Immigrants find it hard to be fully assimilated into the local culture.
  • 。
    Zhè liǎng gè yīn zài lián dú shí huì tóng huà chéng yí gè yīn.
    These two sounds assimilate into one when linked in speech.
  • 同化。
    Shēn tǐ xū yào shí jiān tóng huà zhè xiē yíng yǎng wù zhì.
    The body needs time to assimilate these nutrients.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

同tóngsame
化huàbecome

同 gives sameness, and 化 expresses becoming that state.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →
Appears in
BiologyLanguageSociety & Public Life

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