巴拿马城 (Bā ná mǎ Chéng) — Panama City (capital of Panama)

Definition

noun

Panama City (capital of Panama)

巴拿马城。
Wǒ jì huà míng nián qù Bā ná mǎ Chéng lǚ yóu.
I plan to travel to Panama City next year.
巴拿马城，。
Bā ná mǎ Chéng Shì bā ná mǎ de shǒu dū, yě shì zhòng yào de jīn róng zhōng xīn.
Panama City is the capital of Panama and also an important financial center.
巴拿马城，。
Cóng Bā ná mǎ Chéng chū fā, kě yǐ zuò chuán qù kàn bā ná mǎ yùn hé.
From Panama City, you can take a boat to see the Panama Canal.

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.

巴拿马Panama

音译Transliteration

The first three characters spell Panama, and the last character means city.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

合手拿

The shape 拿 pairs 合 with 手, and it is a later alternative form for taking with the hand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

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城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.