基尔 (Jī'ěr): Kiel (capital of Schleswig-Hols…

Meanings

1 Kiel (capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
2 (also a transliteration of names like 'Keer' or 'Kier')

Characters

基

jī

foundation; base (transliteration syllable here)

尔

ěr

you (classical); transliteration suffix for '-r'/'-l'

Examples

基尔是德国北部的港口城市。

Jī'ěr shì Déguó běibù de gǎngkǒu chéngshì.

Kiel is a port city in northern Germany.

基尔运河连接北海和波罗的海。

Jī'ěr yùnhé liánjiē Běihǎi hé Bōluódìhǎi.

The Kiel Canal connects the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Tips

culture

Most commonly refers to Kiel, Germany — capital of Schleswig-Holstein and home of Kiel Week (Kieler Woche), one of the world's largest sailing regattas. The Kiel Canal (基尔运河) is also an important shipping route.

memory

Phonetic transliteration: 基 (jī, 'foundation') for the 'Kee-' sound, 尔 (ěr) for the trailing '-l'. The character meanings ('foundation' + classical pronoun) are not literal here — the characters were chosen purely for sound.