(sū lián) - the Soviet Union in Mandarin
sūliánTraditional: 蘇聯
Translation
the Soviet Union
Word origin
A clipped form of 苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟, in which 苏维埃 transcribes the Russian sovet (council) and 联 is the 联盟 (union) at the end.
- Origin
- clipped translation
- Root
- 苏 (from 苏维埃, transcribing Russian sovet) + 联 (from 联盟, union)
Stroke order
苏
联
Examples
九九。
The Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
。
My grandfather studied engineering in the Soviet Union when he was young.
。
This book is about the history of the Soviet Union.
。
The Soviet Union and America fought a cold war for many years.
。
That film's story takes place in the Soviet Union.
苏联 (Sūlián) is the Soviet Union, and like most long political names in Chinese it survives only as a two-character clip: the first character of the transcription plus the first character of union.
The state is gone, so the word is a history word. Modern Russia is 俄罗斯 (Éluósī), and the two are not interchangeable, exactly as Soviet Union and Russia are not in English.
The trap is the character 苏 itself. It also stands for Jiangsu province and appears in ordinary surnames, so 苏 on its own tells you nothing. It only means Soviet when it is standing next to 联.
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苏联: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "苏联" (the Soviet Union): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 55.