法语 (Fǎ yǔ) — French (language) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

French (language)

Examples

法语。
Wǒ xué le liǎng nián Fǎ yǔ.
I've studied French for two years.
法语。
Tā de Fǎ yǔ shuō dé fēi cháng liú lì.
She speaks French very fluently.
。
Zhè běn xiǎo shuō yǒu Fǎ yǔ hé zhōng wén liǎng gè bǎn běn.
This novel has both French and Chinese editions.

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.

法fǎFrench

语yǔlanguage

法 'French' and 语 'language' combine to mean the French language.

Characters in this word

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid

Sound part声符shēngfú

盍

盍hé法fǎ

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

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

吾wú語yǔ

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

Appears in

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