麦道 (Mài dào) — McDonnell Douglas (aircraft manufacturer)

Definition

noun

McDonnell Douglas (aircraft manufacturer)

麦道。
Mài dào Gōng sī shēng chǎn le hěn duō kè jī.
McDonnell Douglas produced many passenger planes.
MD-11麦道。
MD-11 shì Mài dào de yì kuǎn zhù míng fēi jī.
The MD-11 is a famous model of McDonnell Douglas.
麦道。
Tā yǔ Mài dào de gōng chéng shī hé zuò guò.
He has cooperated with engineers from McDonnell Douglas.

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 only spell the foreign name McDonnell Douglas; 麦 and 道 carry no meaning of their own 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.

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

行行xíngstreet

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

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

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.