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不明 (bù míng) — to fail to understand; to be unclear about; (formal) unknown; not clear (e.g., of whereabouts, cause)

Definition

Formal/literary verb meaning 'unclear' or 'unknown' (cause, whereabouts, identity) — typical in news and official reports rather than everyday speech.

verb
to fail to understandto be unclear about(formal) unknownnot clear (e.g., of whereabouts, cause)

Examples

  • 不明。
    Tā duì shì qing de zhēn xiàng bù míng.
    He is unclear about the truth of the matter.
  • 。
    Nà míng shī zōng de xué shēng zhì jīn xià luò bù míng.
    That missing student's whereabouts are still unknown.
  • 不明。
    Zhè chǎng huǒ zāi de qǐ huǒ yuán yīn bù míng.
    The cause of the fire is unknown.

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.

不bùnot
明míngclear

'不' negates '明', giving the sense of not clear or failing to understand.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →
Appears in
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