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圣达菲 (shèng dá fēi) — Santa Fe (city in New Mexico, USA); (also) Santa Fe (car model)

Definition

Name for the U.S. city of Santa Fe, New Mexico — used in Chinese for the historic southwestern city. It is also the name of a Hyundai SUV model sold in China.

noun
Santa Fe (city in New Mexico, USA)(also) Santa Fe (car model)

Examples

  • 圣达菲。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù shèng dá fēi lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Santa Fe next year.
  • 圣达菲。
    shèng dá fēi De jiàn zhù fēng gé hěn yǒu tè sè.
    The architectural style of Santa Fe is very distinctive.
  • 圣达菲。
    Tā kāi le yí liàng shèng dá fēi yuè yě chē.
    He drives a Santa Fe SUV.

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.

圣shèng
达dá
菲fēi

圣达菲 spells the foreign name Santa Fe; the characters carry no independent meaning.

Sound-only characters

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 聖; 圣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
呈
呈chéng聖shèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 聖 puts 耳 (ear) beside 呈, which gives the sound; the simplified 圣 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 圣 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
大
大dà达dá
Same sound today

This form 达 pairs 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 大 as a sound component.

Open 达 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
非
非fēi菲fěi
Same sound today

菲 puts 艹, showing a plant, together with 非, which gives its sound.

Open 菲 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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