市郊 (shì jiāo) — suburb; outskirts | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

suburboutskirts

Examples

市郊。
Tā zhù zài shì jiāo.
He lives in the suburbs.
市郊。
shì jiāo De kōng qì bǐ shì zhōng xīn hǎo.
The air in the suburbs is better than in the city center.
市郊。
Hěn duō gōng sī bān dào shì jiāo qù le.
Many companies have moved to the suburbs.

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.

郊jiāooutskirts

市 (city) + 郊 (outskirts): the outskirts belonging to a city.

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

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

交阝郊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as邑yì

Sound part声符shēngfú

交

交jiāo郊jiāo

Same sound today

郊 pairs the meaning part 邑 (written as 阝) with 交, the sound part.

Appears in

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