永泰 (Yǒng tài) — Yongtai (a county in Fujian province)

Definition

noun

Yongtai (a county in Fujian province)

永泰，。
Wǒ qù guò fú jiàn de Yǒng tài xiàn, nà lǐ yǒu měi lì de qīng yún shān.
I have been to Yongtai County in Fujian; there are beautiful Qingyun Mountains there.
永泰，。
Yǒng tài Xiàn de lǐ gān fēi cháng yǒu míng, hěn duō rén dōu huì mǎi.
Yongtai's dried plums are very famous; many people buy them.
永泰，。
Tā cóng xiǎo zài Yǒng tài zhǎng dà, duì nà lǐ de shān shuǐ hěn shú xi.
He grew up in Yongtai and is very familiar with the scenery there.

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.

泰tàipeaceful

永 means eternal and 泰 means peaceful or safe, naming a place as lasting peace.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 永 was drawn as a long river with side streams, or as a person swimming in water.

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

廾廾gǒngtwo hands

Sound part声符shēngfú

大

大dà泰tài

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

泰 combines 大 for sound with 廾 (two hands) and 水 (water), showing hands handling water or something slippery.