希伯伦 (xī bó lún) — Hebron (city in the West Bank)

Definition

noun

Hebron (city in the West Bank)

希伯伦。
Gǔ dài xī bó lún shì yí zuò zhòng yào de chéng shì.
Ancient Hebron was an important city.
希伯伦。
Hěn duō yóu kè dào xī bó lún cān guān lì shǐ yí jì.
Many tourists visit historical sites in Hebron.
希伯伦。
xī bó lún De jīng jì fā zhǎn jìn nián lái yǒu suǒ gǎi shàn.
Hebron's economic development has improved in recent years.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; together they spell Hebron.

Sound-only characters

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

希 is made from 爻 and 巾, which means cloth. How those parts connect to “hope” is not explained.

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

人人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

伯 pairs 人 (person) with 白, which gives its sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 倫; 伦 is its simplified writing.

人侖倫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

侖

侖lún倫lún

Same sound today

The traditional form 倫 uses 人 to show people and 侖 to give its sound; the simplified 伦 is a later shorthand.