大阪市 (dà bǎn shì) — Osaka city (major city in Japan)

Definition

noun
Osaka city (major city in Japan)

Examples

  • 大阪市。
    dà bǎn shì Shì rì běn de dà chéng shì.
    Osaka is a big city in Japan.
  • 大阪市。
    Wǒ qù nián qù guò dà bǎn shì.
    I went to Osaka last year.
  • 大阪市。
    dà bǎn shì De tiān qì hěn nuǎn huo.
    The weather in Osaka is very warm.

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.

大阪Osaka
大dà阪bǎn
市shìcity

The name 大阪 is joined with 市 meaning city to form the city name Osaka.

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.

Open 大 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fùmound
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn阪
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 阝 represents a mound, and 反 supplies the sound; together they form 阪, meaning hill or slope.

Open 阪 →

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
兮兮xībustling
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī市shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

Open 市 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.