堡 (bǎo): fort

Measure Word

一座堡 zuò

Meanings

1 fort
2 fortress
3 castle

Characters

堡

bǎo

fort; fortress

Examples

那座古堡已经有几百年历史了。

Nà zuò gǔbǎo yǐjīng yǒu jǐ bǎi nián lìshǐ le.

That ancient castle is already several hundred years old.

汉堡是德国的一座城市。

Hànbǎo shì Déguó de yī zuò chéngshì.

Hamburg is a city in Germany.

Tips

usage

The main reading is bǎo (fortress), which also transliterates the -burg and -berg endings of European place names and abbreviates 汉堡 (hamburger). Two place-name-only readings exist: bǔ, as in 堡子 (a walled village), and pù, in northern toponyms like 十里堡.

Components

radical

土 tǔ

earth; soil

Bottom 土 is the earth radical and indexing component. Like 城, 墙, 堤, the earth radical signals construction made of rammed earth or stone: a 堡 is literally a protective earthwork. The radical position at the foot also visually grounds the fortress on the soil beneath it.

phonetic

保 bǎo

to protect; guarantee

Top 保 supplies the sound (bǎo to bǎo, identical) and adds strong semantic flavour: a 堡 is a fortified place that protects (保) its inhabitants. 保 itself is a person sheltering a child, so the top doubles as both phonetic and meaning-cue: a place that protects.