宫城 (gōng chéng) — palace wall; the walls enclosing an imperial pa…

Definition

noun

palace wallthe walls enclosing an imperial palaceimperial residencepalace

Measure word · 座

Easily confused

宫城，。
Zhè zuò gōng chéng shǐ jiàn yú táng dài, lì jīng duō cì xiū shàn.
This palace was first built in the Tang dynasty and has undergone many repairs.
宫城。
Gù gōng shì zhōng guó zuì zhù míng de gōng chéng.
The Forbidden City is China's most famous palace.
宫城。
gōng chéng De chéng qiáng gāo dà ér jiān gù.
The walls of the imperial palace are tall and solid.

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.

Palace combines with wall or city to mean the walls enclosing an imperial residence.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 宮; 宫 is its simplified writing.

宀呂宮

The traditional form 宮 is built from 宀 and 呂.

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

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.