莫比尔 (mò bǐ ěr) — Mobile (city in Alabama, USA)

Definition

noun
Mobile (city in Alabama, USA)

Examples

  • 莫比尔。
    Wǒ qù guò měi guó ā lā bā mǎ zhōu de mò bǐ ěr.
    I've been to Mobile in the state of Alabama.
  • 莫比尔。
    mò bǐ ěr Shì yí gè měi lì de gǎng kǒu chéng shì.
    Mobile is a beautiful port city.
  • 莫比尔？
    Nǐ tīng shuō guò měi guó de mò bǐ ěr ma?
    Have you heard of Mobile in the US?

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 莫 shows a sun sinking into bushes, meaning dusk.

Open 莫 →

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

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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