拉普拉塔 (lā pǔ lā tǎ) — La Plata (city in Argentina)

Definition

Proper noun referring to La Plata, the capital city of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina, and also used for the Río de la Plata estuary between Argentina and Uruguay.

noun
La Plata (city in Argentina)

Examples

  • 拉普拉塔。
    lā pǔ lā tǎ Shì ā gēn tíng de yí zuò zhòng yào gǎng kǒu chéng shì.
    La Plata is an important port city in Argentina.
  • 拉普拉塔。
    Zhè tiáo hé jiào lā pǔ lā tǎ hé.
    This river is called the Río de la Plata.
  • 拉普拉塔。
    Wǒ zài dì tú shàng zhǎo dào le lā pǔ lā tǎ de wèi zhì.
    I found the location of La Plata on the map.

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.

拉lā
普pǔ
拉lā
塔tǎ

The characters carry no meaning here; they spell the Argentine city.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

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

  • 並並bìngside by side
  • 日日rìsun

普 is made of 日 (sun) and 並 (side by side).

Open 普 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

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tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
荅
荅dá塔tǎ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

Open 塔 →

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