开封 (Kāi fēng) — Kaifeng (historical capital of Henan province)

Definition

noun
Kaifeng (historical capital of Henan province)

Examples

  • 开封。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Kāi fēng lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Kaifeng next year.
  • 开封。
    Kāi fēng Shì běi sòng de shǒu dū.
    Kaifeng was the capital of the Northern Song dynasty.
  • 开封。
    Kāi fēng De xiǎo chī fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    Kaifeng's street food is very famous.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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
土土tǔearth
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng封fēng
Same sound today

The shape 封 is 丰 plus 土 (earth) plus 寸 (hand); 丰 was originally drawn as a tree seedling.

Open 封 →

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