名古屋 (Míng gǔ wū) — Nagoya (city in Japan)

Definition

noun

Nagoya (city in Japan)

名古屋。
Wǒ míng nián dǎ suàn qù Míng gǔ wū lǚ xíng.
I plan to travel to Nagoya next year.
名古屋。
Míng gǔ wū Shì rì běn zhōng bù de yí gè zhòng yào chéng shì.
Nagoya is an important city in central Japan.
名古屋，。
Wǒ zài Míng gǔ wū zhù le sān nián, hěn xǐ huan nà lǐ de shēng huó.
I lived in Nagoya for three years and really liked the life there.

Characters in this word

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

夕口名

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡉉

𡉉𡉉屋wū

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

屋 comes from 室, meaning room, with 𡉉 for sound; its upper part later changed into an unrelated shape.

Appears in