广州 (Guǎng zhōu) — Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong province)

Definition

noun

Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong province)

广州。
Guǎng zhōu Shì zhōng guó nán fāng de dà chéng shì.
Guangzhou is a big city in southern China.
广州。
Wǒ jì huà míng nián qù Guǎng zhōu lǚ xíng.
I plan to travel to Guangzhou next year.
广州。
Guǎng zhōu De zǎo chá fēi cháng yǒu míng.
Guangzhou's morning tea is very famous.

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.

州zhōuprefecture

广 names the region, and 州 is an old term for prefecture; together they form Guangzhou.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廣; 广 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

黃

黃huáng廣guǎng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廣 combines 广 (meaning part) with 黃 (sound part); the simplified 广 is a later shorthand, not the full historical shape.

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.