城 chéng — a city wall; a walled city; a city, a town

Pinyin

• chéng (second tone, rising)

a city wall; a walled city; a city, a town

Character breakdown

• 土meaning partno entry yetEarth: city walls were built of rammed earth, layer beaten on layer.
• 成sound partno entry yet成 chéng for the sound; its own meaning, "to complete", suits a wall closed all the way round.

Mnemonic

Earth 土 with 成 chéng beside it for the sound. The word named the rammed-earth wall first and the place behind it second — a Chinese city was its wall. Both senses are alive: 长城 the Great Wall, 城市 a city, 城里 in town, 进城 to go into town.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 城

• 城市chéngshì (second tone, rising)city, town

Radical 土 — other characters

• 在zài (fourth tone, falling)to be at, to be in, to exist, to be present; at, in, on (before a place); (before a verb) the progressive marker
• 坐zuò (fourth tone, falling)to sit, to be seated; to travel by (a vehicle); (of a building) to face a direction