TongTong
Sign in

特拉维夫 (Tè lā wéi fū) — Tel Aviv (city in Israel)

Definition

noun
Tel Aviv (city in Israel)

Examples

  • 特拉维夫。
    Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Tè lā wéi fū lǚ xíng.
    I want to travel to Tel Aviv next year.
  • 特拉维夫。
    Tè lā wéi fū Shì yǐ sè liè zuì dà de chéng shì zhī yī.
    Tel Aviv is one of the largest cities in Israel.
  • 特拉维夫。
    Tā zài Tè lā wéi fū zhù le wǔ nián.
    He lived in Tel Aviv for five years.

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.

特tè
拉lā
维wéi
夫fū

特拉维夫 spells Tel Aviv; 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
牛牛niúox
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì特tè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

Open 特 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì拉lā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拉 pairs 手 (hand) with 立, a component that supplies the sound.

Open 拉 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 維; 维 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
唯
唯wéi維wéi
Same sound today

In the traditional form 維, 糸 marks a thread meaning and 唯 provides the sound; the simplified 维 is a later shortened shape.

Open 维 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

Open 夫 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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