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比基尼 (bǐ jī ní) — bikini

Definition

noun
bikini
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 比基尼。
    Tā chuān zhuó bǐ jī ní qù hǎi tān.
    She wore a bikini to the beach.
  • 比基尼。
    Zhè jiàn bǐ jī ní de yán sè hěn piào liang.
    The color of this bikini is very pretty.
  • ，比基尼。
    Xià tiān dào le, shāng diàn lǐ yǒu hěn duō bǐ jī ní.
    Summer has arrived, and there are many bikinis in the stores.

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.

比bǐ
基jī
尼ní

The characters in 比基尼 carry no meaning of their own here; the word transliterates a foreign term for a two-piece swimsuit.

Sound-only characters

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

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí基jī
Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.

Open 基 →

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

The shape draws one person sitting on or leaning against another person, giving the sense of stopping close to someone.

Open 尼 →
Appears in
Clothing

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