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郊区 (jiāo qū) — suburbs, outskirts, suburban district

Definition

郊区 refers to the suburban district of a city, usually an administrative area. 郊外 is more general, just the countryside on the edge of a city.

noun
suburbsoutskirtssuburban district
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 郊区。
    Wǒ zhù zài jiāo qū.
    I live in the suburbs.
  • 郊区。
    jiāo qū De huán jìng hěn ān jìng.
    The environment in the suburbs is very quiet.
  • 郊区。
    Cóng jiāo qū dào shì zhōng xīn yào yí gè xiǎo shí.
    It takes an hour from the suburbs to the city center.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

郊jiāosuburb
区qūdistrict

郊区 pairs 郊 for the outer town area with 区 for a district, naming the suburbs.

Characters in this word

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
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo郊jiāo
Same sound today

郊 pairs the meaning part 邑 (written as 阝) with 交, the sound part.

Open 郊 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 區 is made from 匸 and 品; the simplified 区 is a shorthand.

Open 区 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 5City & Urban

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