闹市 (nào shì) — bustling downtown area, busy shopping district

Definition

闹市 refers to a bustling, noisy downtown shopping area, emphasizing the lively, crowded atmosphere. A more literary word than 商业区 or 购物中心.

noun

bustling downtown areabusy shopping district

Measure word · 片

闹市，。
Tā zhù zài nào shì fù jìn, měi tiān dōu hěn chǎo.
He lives near the bustling downtown area, and it's very noisy every day.
闹市。
Zhè tiáo jiē shì chéng shì zuì fán huá de nào shì.
This street is the city's busiest shopping district.
闹市，。
Zhōu mò de nào shì rén shān rén hǎi, fēi cháng rè nao.
On weekends, the downtown area is packed with people and very lively.

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.

闹 means noisy or busy, and 市 means market; together they denote a bustling downtown area.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鬧; 闹 is its simplified writing.

鬥市鬧

The traditional form 鬧 combines 鬥 (to fight) and 市 (market; town) to mean noisy.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

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