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柏林 (Bó lín) — Berlin

Definition

noun
Berlin

Examples

  • 柏林。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Bó lín lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Berlin next year.
  • 柏林。
    Bó lín Shì dé guó de shǒu dū.
    Berlin is the capital of Germany.
  • 柏林。
    Tā zài Bó lín zhù le shí nián.
    He lived in Berlin for ten years.

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.

柏bǎi
林lín

柏林 spells Berlin; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái柏bǎi
Same sound today

柏 pairs 木, showing a tree, with 白, which gives the sound.

Open 柏 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →
Appears in
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