法郎 (fǎ láng) — franc (currency)

Definition

noun
franc (currency)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 法郎。
    Zhè ge shǒu biǎo de jià qián shì wǔ bǎi fǎ láng.
    The price of this watch is five hundred francs.
  • 法郎。
    Tā qù nián qù ruì shì de shí hou huàn le sān qiān fǎ láng.
    He exchanged three thousand francs when he went to Switzerland last year.
  • ,。
    Yì bǎi nián qián, fǎ guó rén hái yòng fǎ láng mǎi dōng xī.
    A hundred years ago, French people still used francs to buy things.

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.

法郎 spells the foreign name for a franc; the characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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.

Open 法 →

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
邑邑yìcounty; town
Sound part声符shēngfú
良
良liáng郎láng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

郎 combines 良, which gives the sound, with 邑, meaning county or town.

Open 郎 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.