雪佛兰 (Xuě fó lán) — Chevrolet (car brand) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Chevrolet (car brand)

Measure word · 辆

Examples

雪佛兰。
Wǒ bà ba qù nián mǎi le yí liàng Xuě fó lán.
My dad bought a Chevrolet last year.
雪佛兰。
Xuě fó lán Shì měi guó hěn shòu huān yíng de pǐn pái.
Chevrolet is a very popular brand in America.
雪佛兰，。
Tā de Xuě fó lán kāi le shí nián le, hái méi yǒu huàn.
His Chevrolet has been driven for ten years and he hasn't replaced it.

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.

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; the word spells Chevrolet.

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

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

彗

彗huì雪xuě

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

雪 pairs 雨, showing rain, with 彗, giving the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻弗佛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

弗

弗fú佛Fó

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

佛 is made from 亻, a person, and 弗, which gives the sound.

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 蘭; 兰 is its simplified writing.

艹闌蘭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎoplant

Sound part声符shēngfú

闌

闌lán蘭lán

Same sound today

In the traditional form 蘭, 艹 marks it as a plant and 闌 stands for the sound; the simplified 兰 is a later shorthand, not the original parts.

Appears in

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