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麦加 (Mài jiā) — Mecca (city in Saudi Arabia)

Definition

Proper noun: the holy city of Islam in Saudi Arabia, the destination of the annual hajj pilgrimage. In English, "Mecca" is also used figuratively for a place people flock to — a separate, idiomatic sense.

noun
Mecca (city in Saudi Arabia)

Examples

  • 麦加。
    Mài jiā Shì yī sī lán jiào zuì zhòng yào de shèng dì.
    Mecca is the most important holy site in Islam.
  • 麦加。
    Tā měi nián dōu qù Mài jiā cháo shèng.
    He goes on pilgrimage to Mecca every year.
  • 麦加，。
    Wǒ cóng méi qù guò Mài jiā, dàn hěn xiǎng qù kàn kàn.
    I've never been to Mecca, but I really want to go see 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.

麦mài
加jiā

The characters 麦 and 加 only spell Mecca; neither carries its usual 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly
Sound part声符shēngfú
來
來lái麥mài
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

Open 麦 →

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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