城镇 (chéng zhèn) — towns and cities; urban areas

Definition

A collective term for towns and small-to-medium cities. Use it when contrasting with 乡村 (rural); 城市 focuses on a single city, and 城区/市区 refer to the urban district within a city.

noun
towns and citiesurban areas
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 城镇。
    Zhōng guó de chéng zhèn huà jìn chéng fēi cháng kuài.
    China's urbanization process is very fast.
  • 城镇，。
    Tā zhù zài chéng zhèn lǐ, xí guàn le rè nao de shēng huó.
    He lives in a town and is used to the bustling life.
  • ，城镇。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài suō xiǎo chéng xiāng chā jù, ràng chéng zhèn hé xiāng cūn dōu dé dào fā zhǎn.
    The government is narrowing the urban-rural gap so that both towns and villages develop.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

城chéngcity
镇zhèntown

城镇 lists 城 and 镇, larger and smaller settlements, together as urban places.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

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 鎮; 镇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn鎮zhèn
Same sound today

The traditional form 鎮 uses 金, metal, and 真, which gave its sound; it depicted pressing down with a metal weight. The simplified 镇 is a later abbreviation.

Open 镇 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6City & Urban

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