安南 (An nán) — historical name for Vietnam (Annam)

Definition

Historical Chinese name for Vietnam (Annam), used in imperial-era texts for the region to the south. Not used for the modern country — that's 越南.

noun
historical name for Vietnam (Annam)

Examples

  • 安南。
    An nán Shì gǔ dài zhōng guó duì yuè nán de chēng hu.
    Annan was the ancient Chinese name for Vietnam.
  • ，安南。
    Táng cháo shí qī, An nán dì qū yǔ zhōng guó wǎng lái mì qiè.
    During the Tang dynasty, the Annan region had close contact with China.
  • 安南。
    Tā zài lì shǐ kè shàng xué xí le guān yú An nán de zhī shi.
    He learned about Annan in history class.

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.

安ānpeaceful
南nánsouth

'安' means peaceful and '南' means south, so the name means peaceful south.

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 南 →

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