水城 (Shuǐ chéng) — water town, waterside town (a town or city with extensive canals or waterways)

Definition

A 'water town' — a town built around canals and waterways, the term often used for Venice or the canal towns of Jiangnan like Suzhou and Zhouzhuang.

noun
water townwaterside town (a town or city with extensive canals or waterways)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 水城。
    Wēi ní sī shì yí zuò zhù míng de Shuǐ chéng.
    Venice is a famous water town.
  • 水城。
    Sū zhōu bèi chēng wéi dōng fāng Shuǐ chéng.
    Suzhou is called the water town of the East.
  • 水城。
    Zhè ge Shuǐ chéng yǒu hěn duō gǔ lǎo de shí qiáo.
    This water town has many ancient stone bridges.

Origin

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.

水shuǐwater
城chéngtown

水 means water and 城 means town; together they name a town shaped by canals and waterways.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

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