一清早 (yī qīng zǎo) — early in the morning (as a time period) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

early in the morning (as a time period)

Examples

一清早。
Tā yī qīng zǎo jiù chū mén le.
He went out early in the morning.
一清早。
yī qīng zǎo Gōng yuán lǐ jiù yǒu hěn duō rén zài duàn liàn.
Early in the morning, there are already many people exercising in the park.
一清早，。
Wǒ men yī qīng zǎo chū fā, bì kāi jiāo tōng gāo fēng.
We set off early in the morning to avoid rush hour traffic.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

清早clear early morning

清qīngclear早zǎoearly

偏正Modifier + head

一 with 清早 gives early morning.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵青清

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

青qīng清qīng

Same sound today

清 has 氵 (water) on the left and 青 on the right to show its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìsun

Sound part声符shēngfú

棗

棗zǎo早zǎo

Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

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