鹿特丹 (Lù tè dān) — Rotterdam (port city in the Netherlands)

Definition

noun

Rotterdam (port city in the Netherlands)

鹿特丹。
Lù tè dān Shì hé lán de dì èr dà chéng shì.
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands.
鹿特丹。
Tā qù nián qù Lù tè dān chū chāi le.
He went to Rotterdam on a business trip last year.
鹿特丹。
Lù tè dān De gǎng kǒu shì ōu zhōu zuì dà de zhī yī.
Rotterdam's port is one of the largest in Europe.

Characters in this word

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

鹿 is a picture of a deer, with antlers, head, mouth, and bent legs; in the current form these parts are abstracted.

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

牛寺特

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

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

The shape combines 牛 (ox) with 寺, which gives the pronunciation; it originally meant a large bull.

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

The shape 丹 shows a well or mine with red cinnabar inside.