湄公河 (Méi gōng hé) — Mekong River

Definition

noun
Mekong River

Examples

  • 湄公河。
    Méi gōng hé Liú jīng liù gè guó jiā.
    The Mekong River flows through six countries.
  • 湄公河。
    Méi gōng hé Shì dōng nán yà zuì zhòng yào de hé liú zhī yī.
    The Mekong River is one of the most important rivers in Southeast Asia.
  • 湄公河。
    Wǒ men zuò chuán yóu lǎn le Méi gōng hé.
    We took a boat tour of the Mekong River.

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.

湄公Mekong
湄méi公gōng
音译Transliteration
河hériver

湄公 spells Mekong, and 河 means river.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
何
何hé河hé
Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

Open 河 →

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