康定 (Kāng dìng) — Kangding (a county-level city in Garzê Tibetan…

Definition

noun

Kangding (a county-level city in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China)

康定。
Wǒ míng nián dǎ suàn qù Kāng dìng lǚ yóu.
I plan to travel to Kangding next year.
康定。
Kāng dìng Shì chuān zàng xiàn shàng de yí zuò zhòng yào chéng shì.
Kangding is an important city along the Sichuan-Tibet highway.
康定，。
Tā de jiā xiāng zài Kāng dìng, nà lǐ yǒu měi lì de xuě shān hé cǎo yuán.
Her hometown is in Kangding; it has beautiful snowy mountains and grasslands.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

定dìngstability

康 (peace) and 定 (stability) combine in the place name.

Characters in this word

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

康 pairs 庚 (threshing tools) with 米 (rice), showing rice being processed into chaff.

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

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

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

定 is built from 宀 and 正, with 正 supplying the sound.