平壤 (Píng rǎng) — Pyongyang, capital of North Korea

Definition

noun

Pyongyangcapital of North Korea

平壤，。
Píng rǎng Shì cháo xiǎn de shǒu dū, yě shì yí zuò lì shǐ yōu jiǔ de chéng shì.
Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, and also a city with a long history.
平壤。
Tā céng zài Píng rǎng gōng zuò guò liǎng nián.
He once worked in Pyongyang for two years.
平壤。
Píng rǎng De dà tóng jiāng liǎng àn fēng jǐng hěn měi.
The scenery along both banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang is very beautiful.

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.

平壤 joins 平, meaning flat, with 壤, meaning land, pointing to a level stretch of land.

Characters in this word

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

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

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

土襄壤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth, dirt

Sound part声符shēngfú

襄

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

The left side 土 is earth or dirt, showing the meaning; the right side 襄 gives the sound.

Appears in