辽 (liáo) — short name for Liaoning province; Liao dynasty (907–1125); (literary) distant, far-reaching

Definition

Bound form used in place names (辽宁 Liaoning province), dynasty names (辽朝 Liao dynasty), and literary 辽阔 'vast, far-reaching.' It never stands alone as a common word.

bound form
short name for Liaoning provinceLiao dynasty (907–1125)(literary) distantfar-reaching
Easily confused

Examples

  • 辽。
    liáo Níng shěng zài zhōng guó de dōng běi.
    Liaoning province is in the northeast of China.
  • 辽。
    liáo Cháo shì yóu qì dān rén jiàn lì de.
    The Liao dynasty was established by the Khitan people.
  • 。
    Zhè piàn cǎo yuán liáo kuò wú biān.
    This grassland is vast and boundless.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 遼; 辽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
尞
尞liáo遼liáo
Same sound today

The traditional form 遼 uses 辵, related to walking, with 尞 for sound; the simplified 辽 is a later shorthand.

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