科威特 (Kē wēi tè) — Kuwait | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Kuwait

科威特。
Kē wēi tè Shì yí gè wèi yú xī yà de guó jiā.
Kuwait is a country located in West Asia.
科威特。
Kē wēi tè De shǒu dū shì kē wēi tè chéng.
The capital of Kuwait is Kuwait City.
科威特。
Kē wēi tè Yǐ shí yóu zī yuán wén míng shì jiè.
Kuwait is famous worldwide for its oil resources.

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.

科威特 only spells Kuwait; the characters carry no meaning 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.

禾斗科

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòumeasuring tool

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

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

戌女威

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

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

牛寺特

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

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.