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喀布尔 (Kà bù ěr) — Kabul (capital of Afghanistan)

Definition

noun
Kabul (capital of Afghanistan)

Examples

  • 喀布尔。
    Kà bù ěr Shì ā fù hàn de shǒu dū.
    Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan.
  • 喀布尔。
    Wǒ zuì jìn kàn le yì běn guān yú Kà bù ěr de shū.
    I recently read a book about Kabul.
  • 喀布尔。
    Cóng běi jīng dào Kà bù ěr xū yào fēi xíng hǎo jǐ gè xiǎo shí.
    From Beijing to Kabul it takes several hours of flying.

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.

喀kā
布bù
尔ěr

喀布尔 spells the foreign name Kabul; the characters 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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
客
客kè喀kā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

喀 pairs 口 (mouth) with 客, which gives the sound. The mouth part shows it is a sound made by the mouth.

Open 喀 →

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
巾巾jīnkerchief
Sound part声符shēngfú
父
父fù布bù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.

Open 布 →

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 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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