盐湖城 (Yán hú chéng) — Salt Lake City (capital of Utah, USA) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Salt Lake City (capital of Utah, USA)

Examples

盐湖城，。
Wǒ qù nián dōng tiān qù Yán hú chéng huá xuě le, xuě zhì tè bié hǎo.
I went skiing in Salt Lake City last winter; the snow quality was excellent.
盐湖城，。
Yán hú chéng Wèi yú měi guó xī bù, shì yóu tā zhōu de shǒu fǔ.
Salt Lake City is located in the western United States and is the capital of Utah.
，盐湖城。
Zhè zuò chéng shì yǐ mó mén jiào de shèng diàn wén míng, hěn duō yóu kè zhuān chéng qù Yán hú chéng cān guān.
This city is famous for the Mormon Temple, and many tourists travel specially to Salt Lake City to visit it.

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.

盐湖salt lake

盐yánsalt湖húlake

偏正Modifier + head

盐湖 means salt lake and 城 means city, so the name is the city by the salt lake.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鹽; 盐 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鹵鹵lǔsalt

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān鹽yán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鹽 uses 鹵 to show salt and 監 for the sound; the simplified 盐 is a later shorthand.

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

胡

胡hú湖hú

Same sound today

湖 pairs 水 (water) with 胡 (hú), which gives the sound.

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

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

成chéng城chéng

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Appears in

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