日本 (Rì běn) — Japan | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Japan

日本。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Rì běn lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Japan next year.
日本。
Rì běn De fēng jǐng fēi cháng piào liang.
The scenery in Japan is very beautiful.
日本。
Tā xué le sān nián Rì běn yǔ.
He studied Japanese for three years.

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.

日rìsun/day

日 means sun or day, and 本 means origin; together they form the traditional name for Japan.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Appears in