新墨西哥 (Xīn Mò xī gē) — New Mexico (U.S. state)

Definition

noun

New Mexico (U.S. state)

Examples

新墨西哥。
Xīn Mò xī gē Shì měi guó de yí gè zhōu.
New Mexico is a U.S. state.
新墨西哥。
Qù nián xià tiān wǒ qù le Xīn Mò xī gē lǚ yóu.
I traveled to New Mexico last summer.
新墨西哥。
Xīn Mò xī gē De shā mò fēng jǐng fēi cháng dú tè.
The desert landscape of New Mexico is very unique.

Origin

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.

新xīnnew

墨西哥Mexico

墨mò西xī哥gē

新 “new” + 墨西哥, a spelling of “Mexico”, gives New Mexico.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斤斤jīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

辛

辛xīn新xīn

Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

黑土墨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

黑

黑hēi墨mò

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

墨 is built from 土 (soil) and 黑, with 黑 giving the sound.

Open 墨 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.