阿尔伯克基 (ā ěr bó kè jī) — Albuquerque (city in New Mexico, USA)

Definition

noun

Albuquerque (city in New Mexico, USA)

Examples

，阿尔伯克基。
Wǒ qù nián qù měi guó lǚ yóu, cān guān le ā ěr bó kè jī de jiù chéng qū.
I traveled to the US last year and visited the old town of Albuquerque.
阿尔伯克基，。
ā ěr bó kè jī Wèi yú měi guó xīn mò xī gē zhōu, shì yí gè lì shǐ yōu jiǔ de chéng shì.
Albuquerque is located in the US state of New Mexico, a city with a long history.
，阿尔伯克基。
Měi nián shí yuè, ā ěr bó kè jī dōu huì jǔ bàn rè qì qiú jié.
Every October, Albuquerque holds a hot air balloon festival.

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.

These characters only spell the foreign place name Albuquerque and carry no independent meaning 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

可

可kě阿ā

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The part 阜 points to a mound, and 可 gives the pronunciation; 阿 originally meant a big mound.

Open 阿 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 克 →