墨西哥城 (Mò xī gē chéng) — Mexico City | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Mexico City

Examples

墨西哥城。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Mò xī gē chéng lǚ yóu.
I want to go to Mexico City to travel next year.
墨西哥城。
Mò xī gē chéng Shì mò xī gē zuì dà de chéng shì.
Mexico City is the largest city in Mexico.
墨西哥城。
Mò xī gē chéng De rén kǒu chāo guò liǎng qiān wàn.
Mexico City's population exceeds 20 million.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

墨西哥Mexico

墨mò西xī哥gē

墨西哥 transliterates Mexico, and 城 means city, so the name is Mexico City.

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.

黑土墨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

黑

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

墨 is built from 土 (soil) and 黑, with 黑 giving the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土成城

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城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Appears in

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