梅德斯通 (méi dé sī tōng) — Maidstone (city in Kent, England) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Maidstone (city in Kent, England)

Examples

梅德斯通。
Wǒ qù nián xià tiān qù guò méi dé sī tōng.
I went to Maidstone last summer.
梅德斯通。
méi dé sī tōng Shì yīng guó kěn tè jùn de yí gè chéng shì.
Maidstone is a city in Kent, England.
梅德斯通？
Nǐ tīng shuō guò méi dé sī tōng ma?
Have you heard of Maidstone?

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.

The characters 梅德斯通 spell the English place name Maidstone; the individual characters carry no separate meaning 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.

木每梅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

每měi梅méi

Same sound today

梅 is built from 木 (tree) and 每, which gives the sound; it is used for the plum tree.

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

彳彳chìroad

Sound part声符shēngfú

惪

惪dé德dé

Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

辶甬通

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng通tōng

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

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

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