费加罗 (fèi jiā luō) — Figaro (character from the operas of Mozart and Rossini); Le Figaro (French newspaper)

Definition

A Western-style proper name in Chinese: the operatic character from Mozart's and Rossini's Figaro operas, and also the name of the well-known French newspaper Le Figaro.

noun
Figaro (character from the operas of Mozart and Rossini)Le Figaro (French newspaper)

Examples

  • 《费加罗》。
    《fèi jiā luō De hūn lǐ》 shì yí bù zhù míng de gē jù.
    "The Marriage of Figaro" is a famous opera.
  • 《费加罗》。
    Tā měi tiān dōu yào dú 《fèi jiā luō bào》.
    He reads Le Figaro every day.
  • 费加罗。
    Wǒ zài bā lí mǎi le yì zhāng fèi jiā luō de hǎi bào.
    I bought a poster of Figaro in Paris.

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.

费fèi
加jiā
罗luó

In 费加罗 the characters carry no meaning of their own; they spell Figaro.

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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 →

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