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泰 (tài) — peace, calm; (bound form) used in place names and proper nouns (e.g., 泰国, 泰山); (in the I Ching) name of the 11th hexagram, symbolizing peace and prosperity

Definition

泰 is a bound morpheme meaning 'peace, calm,' rarely used alone. In modern Chinese it survives mainly as part of proper nouns like 泰国 (Thailand) and 泰山 (Mount Tai), or in the literary 泰然 ('calm, composed').

bound form
peacecalmused in place names and proper nouns (e.g., 泰国, 泰山)(in the I Ching) name of the 11th hexagramsymbolizing peace and prosperity

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù tài guó lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Thailand next year.
  • ，。
    tài Shān shì zhōng guó wǔ yuè zhī yī, fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    Mount Tai is one of the Five Great Mountains of China, very famous.
  • 。
    Tā miàn duì wēi xiǎn shí yī rán tài rán zì ruò.
    He remained calm and composed in the face of danger.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
水水shuǐwater
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.

Appears in
Abstract Concepts5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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