诺森伯兰 (nuò sēn bó lán) — Northumberland (county in England)

Definition

noun
Northumberland (county in England)

Examples

  • 诺森伯兰。
    Míng nián xià tiān wǒ dǎ suàn qù nuò sēn bó lán lǚ xíng.
    Next summer I plan to travel to Northumberland.
  • 诺森伯兰。
    nuò sēn bó lán Shì yīng gé lán běi bù de yí gè jùn.
    Northumberland is a county in northern England.
  • 诺森伯兰。
    Wǒ dú guò yì běn guān yú nuò sēn bó lán lì shǐ de shū.
    I have read a book about the history of Northumberland.

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.

诺nuò
森sēn
伯bó
兰lán

The characters 诺森伯兰 only spell Northumberland and carry no meaning of their own 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 諾; 诺 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword, speak
Sound part声符shēngfú
若
若ruò諾nuò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 諾 pairs 言, meaning word or speak, with 若 as a sound part, for an affirmative answer. The simplified 诺 is a later shorthand.

Open 诺 →

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

The form 森 stacks three tree-like shapes to show many trees in a forest.

Open 森 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái伯bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

伯 pairs 人 (person) with 白, which gives its sound.

Open 伯 →

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant
Sound part声符shēngfú
闌
闌lán蘭lán
Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.

Open 兰 →

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