科罗拉多州 (Kē luó lā duō zhōu) — Colorado (U.S. state)

Definition

noun
Colorado (U.S. state)

Examples

  • 科罗拉多州，。
    Kē luó lā duō zhōu Wèi yú měi guó xī bù, yǐ luò jī shān mài wén míng.
    Colorado is located in the western United States and is famous for the Rocky Mountains.
  • 科罗拉多州。
    Qù nián xià tiān wǒ men yì jiā qù Kē luó lā duō zhōu lǚ xíng le.
    Last summer our family traveled to Colorado.
  • 科罗拉多州，。
    Kē luó lā duō zhōu De shǒu fǔ shì dān fó, nà lǐ yǒu hěn duō bó wù guǎn.
    The capital of Colorado is Denver, which has many museums.

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.

科罗拉多
科kē罗luó拉lā多duō
州zhōustate

科罗拉多 spells Colorado, and 州 marks it as a state.

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
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.

Open 科 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

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 →

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

多 originally showed two pieces of meat placed together; the repeated meat shape gives the sense of many.

Open 多 →

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

州 originally drew an islet in a river.

Open 州 →

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