波多黎各 (Bō duō Lí gè) — Puerto Rico

Definition

noun
Puerto Rico

Examples

  • 波多黎各，。
    Bō duō Lí gè Shì měi guó de yí gè zì zhì bāng, wèi yú jiā lè bǐ hǎi.
    Puerto Rico is a self-governing territory of the United States, located in the Caribbean Sea.
  • 波多黎各，。
    Qù nián shǔ jià wǒ qù le Bō duō Lí gè, nà lǐ de hǎi tān fēi cháng piào liang.
    Last summer vacation I went to Puerto Rico; the beaches there are very beautiful.
  • 波多黎各、。
    Bō duō Lí gè De wén huà róng hé le xī bān yá, fēi zhōu hé yuán zhù mín de chuán tǒng.
    Puerto Rico's culture blends Spanish, African, and indigenous traditions.

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.

波bō
多duō
黎lí
各gè

The characters in 波多黎各 only spell Puerto Rico and carry no meaning of their own.

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
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí波bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 氵 is water, and the right side 皮 gives the sound.

Open 波 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

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
黍黍shǔmillet
Sound part声符shēngfú
利
利lì黎lí
Same sound today

黎 pairs 黍, meaning millet, with 利 as its sound part; here the 黍 part is shortened.

Open 黎 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

各 shows a sole of a foot (夂) coming into an entrance (口), for the sense of coming or entering.

Open 各 →

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