顿河 (Dùn hé) — Don River | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Don River

Measure word · 条

Examples

顿河。
Dùn hé Shì yì tiáo hěn cháng de hé liú.
The Don River is a very long river.
顿河。
Dùn hé Liú jīng é luó sī de nán bù.
The Don River flows through southern Russia.
顿河。
Dùn hé Zài lì shǐ shàng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
The Don River was very important in history.

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.

顿 names the river and 河 means river, together giving the Don River.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頓; 顿 is its simplified writing.

屯頁頓

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

屯

屯tún頓dùn

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

The traditional form 頓 combines 屯, drawn as a kneeling person's head, with 頁, and expresses a bow or kowtow. The simplified 顿 replaces 頁 with 页.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

何

何hé河hé

Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

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