国泰 (Guó tài) — Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong airline)

Definition

noun

Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong airline)

国泰。
Wǒ jīng cháng zuò Guó tài de háng bān qù xiāng gǎng.
I often fly Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong.
国泰，。
Guó tài De fú wù hěn hǎo, fēi jī yě hěn xīn.
Cathay Pacific's service is good, and the planes are very new.
国泰。
Guó tài Shì xiāng gǎng zuì dà de háng kōng gōng sī zhī yī.
Cathay Pacific is one of the largest airlines in Hong Kong.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

泰tàipeaceful, prosperous

国 (country) and 泰 (peaceful, prosperous) together mean a country at peace.

Characters in this word

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

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

廾廾gǒngtwo hands

Sound part声符shēngfú

大

大dà泰tài

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

泰 combines 大 for sound with 廾 (two hands) and 水 (water), showing hands handling water or something slippery.