大礼堂 (dà lǐ táng) — auditorium; large assembly hall

Definition

noun

auditoriumlarge assembly hall

Measure word · 个

大礼堂。
Wǒ men xué xiào de dà lǐ táng kě yǐ zuò yì qiān rén.
Our school's auditorium can seat 1,000 people.
大礼堂。
Míng tiān de bì yè diǎn lǐ zài dà lǐ táng jǔ xíng.
Tomorrow's graduation ceremony will be held in the auditorium.
大礼堂。
Hěn duō zhòng yào de huì yì dōu zài zhè ge dà lǐ táng kāi.
Many important meetings are held in this auditorium.

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.

礼堂ceremony hall

偏正Modifier + head

A 大 hall, 堂, used for 礼 ceremonies.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

礻豊禮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

礻Written in full as示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ禮lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

尚

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

堂 uses 土 as a ground/earth part and 尚 for sound.