Queen Charlotte Sound

5.8

A long bay of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, Canada

proper noun

: sonda Queen Charlotte

The coastline along Queen Charlotte Sound is known for its dramatic beauty and diverse wildlife.

Examples

Storms can be fierce in Queen Charlotte Sound, making navigation challenging for ships.
Several ferries traverse Queen Charlotte Sound as they connect Vancouver Island to the mainland.
We sailed through Queen Charlotte Sound last summer.
Have you ever visited Queen Charlotte Sound?
Several ferries traverse Queen Charlotte Sound as they connect Vancouver Island to the mainland.
Storms can be fierce in Queen Charlotte Sound, making navigation challenging for ships.
The coastline along Queen Charlotte Sound is known for its dramatic beauty and diverse wildlife.

Surface Forms

Queen Charlotte Sound main

Morphology

queen + Charlotte + sound

The head noun 'sound' clearly denotes a narrow stretch of water, and 'Queen Charlotte' functions as a proper name; a B1 learner who knows 'queen', recognizes 'Charlotte' as a name, and knows 'sound' can infer this refers to an inlet named after Queen Charlotte. This title+name+geographic-feature naming pattern is cross-linguistically common, so the overall meaning is compositionally transparent.

Etymology

Queen Charlotte Sound was named by British explorer George Vancouver in 1792 for Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. The word sound means a wide sea inlet, so the name tells you it is a sea area named for the queen.