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底特律 (Dǐ tè lǜ) — Detroit (city in Michigan, USA)

Definition

noun
Detroit (city in Michigan, USA)

Examples

  • 底特律。
    Dǐ tè lǜ Shì měi guó de yí zuò chéng shì.
    Detroit is a city in the United States.
  • 底特律。
    Dǐ tè lǜ Céng jīng shì měi guó de qì chē gōng yè zhōng xīn.
    Detroit was once the center of the automobile industry in the US.
  • 底特律。
    Dǐ tè lǜ De qì chē bó wù guǎn xī yǐn le hěn duō yóu kè.
    The automobile museum in Detroit attracts many tourists.

Origin

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.

底dǐ
特tè
律lǜ

The characters spell Detroit; they carry no separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →

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
牛牛niúox
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì特tè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

Open 特 →

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
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù律lǜ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

律 puts 彳 beside 聿: 彳 is the part tied to the meaning, and 聿 is the part tied to the sound.

Open 律 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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