肯塔基 (kěn tǎ jī) — Kentucky (US state)

Definition

noun

Kentucky (US state)

肯塔基。
Wǒ qù nián qù le kěn tǎ jī lǚ yóu.
I traveled to Kentucky last year.
肯塔基。
kěn tǎ jī Yǐ kěn dé jī wén míng shì jiè.
Kentucky is famous worldwide for KFC.
肯塔基。
Tā de jiā xiāng zài kěn tǎ jī de yí gè xiǎo zhèn.
His hometown is a small town in Kentucky.

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.

肯, 塔, and 基 carry no meaning here; the word spells Kentucky.

Sound-only characters

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

肯 is described as showing 冎 (bone) and 肉 (meat), meaning meat attached to the bone.

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

土荅塔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

荅

荅dá塔tǎ

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

塔 shows 土 (earth) for the meaning and 荅 (dá) for the sound.

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

其土基

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.