昌吉 (Chāng jí) — Changji (city in Xinjiang, China)

Definition

noun

Changji (city in Xinjiang, China)

昌吉。
Wǒ qù nián xià tiān qù le Chāng jí lǚ yóu.
I went to Changji for a trip last summer.
昌吉。
Chāng jí Shì xīn jiāng de yí gè chéng shì.
Changji is a city in Xinjiang.
昌吉。
Tā zài Chāng jí zhù le wǔ nián.
He lived in Changji for five years.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

The characters 昌 and 吉 together form this place name; neither contributes a separate meaning here.

Sound-only characters

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

昌 is made from 日 (sun) and 口 (mouth): the mouth refers to people being awakened at dawn by shouts or songs.

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

In the earliest forms, 吉 was drawn with a mouth-like lower part and an upper part that later became today's upper shape.