纽芬兰 (Niǔ fēn lán) — Newfoundland (island in Canada)

Definition

noun

Newfoundland (island in Canada)

Examples

纽芬兰。
Wǒ míng nián xiǎng qù Niǔ fēn lán lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Newfoundland next year.
纽芬兰。
Niǔ fēn lán Shì jiā ná dà dōng bù de yí gè dǎo.
Newfoundland is an island in eastern Canada.
纽芬兰。
Tā zài Niǔ fēn lán zhù le sān nián.
He lived in Newfoundland for three 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.

纽niǔ

芬fēn

兰lán

“纽芬兰” only spells the foreign name and carries 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紐; 纽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

丑

丑chǒu紐niǔ

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

The traditional form 紐 has 糸 (silk) for tying and 丑 for sound; 丑 also points to a claw or hand, fitting a handle. The simplified 纽 is a later shorthand.

Open 纽 →

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

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn芬fēn

Same sound today

芬 is built from 艸, the grass form, and 分, which gives the sound.

Open 芬 →

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.