永济 (Yǒng jì) — Yongji (city in Shanxi Province, China)

Definition

noun

Yongji (city in Shanxi Province, China)

永济。
Yǒng jì Shì yí gè lì shǐ yōu jiǔ de chéng shì.
Yongji is a city with a long history.
永济。
Wǒ dǎ suàn míng nián qù Yǒng jì lǚ yóu.
I plan to travel to Yongji next year.
永济。
Yǒng jì De gǔ jiàn zhù fēi cháng yǒu míng.
Yongji's ancient buildings are very famous.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 濟; 济 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

齊

齊qí濟jì

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

The traditional form 濟 pairs 水 (water) with 齊, which gives the sound; the simplified 济 is a later shorthand.