瑞典 (Ruì diǎn) — Sweden

Definition

noun
Sweden

Examples

  • 瑞典。
    Wǒ qù nián xià tiān qù le Ruì diǎn lǚ xíng.
    I went to Sweden for a trip last summer.
  • 瑞典。
    Ruì diǎn De jí guāng fēi cháng zhuàng guān.
    The northern lights in Sweden are very spectacular.
  • 瑞典，。
    Tā zhàng fu shì Ruì diǎn rén, huì shuō ruì diǎn yǔ.
    Her husband is Swedish and speaks Swedish.

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.

瑞ruì
典diǎn

瑞典 spells the foreign name for Sweden; 瑞 and 典 carry no meanings 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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
耑
耑zhuān瑞ruì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

瑞 pairs 玉, meaning jade, with 耑, which gives its sound.

Open 瑞 →

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

  • 冊冊cèbooks
  • 丌丌qítable

典 puts 冊 (books) on a 丌 (table), showing official books resting on a table.

Open 典 →

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