澳洲 (Aò zhōu) — Australia

Definition

noun
Australia
Easily confused

Examples

  • 澳洲。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Aò zhōu lǚ yóu.
    I want to travel to Australia next year.
  • 澳洲，。
    Tā zài Aò zhōu zhù le sān nián, yīng yǔ jìn bù le hěn duō.
    He lived in Australia for three years, and his English improved a lot.
  • 澳洲。
    Aò zhōu De dài shǔ hé kǎo lā fēi cháng yǒu míng.
    Australia's kangaroos and koalas are very famous.

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.

澳àoAustralia
洲zhōucontinent

澳 stands for Australia and 洲 means continent, so the meaning is the Australian continent.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
奧
奧ào澳ào
Same sound today

澳 is made from 水, water, plus 奧, which gives the sound.

Open 澳 →

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
州
州zhōu洲zhōu
Same sound today

洲 is built from 水 (water) and 州, which gives the sound.

Open 洲 →

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