不祥 (bù xiáng) — ominous, inauspicious

Definition

adjective

ominousinauspicious

，不祥。
Tiān kōng tū rán biàn àn, gěi rén yì zhǒng bù xiáng de gǎn jué.
The sky suddenly darkened, giving people an ominous feeling.
不祥，。
Tā zuò le yí gè bù xiáng de mèng, xīn lǐ hěn bù ān.
He had an ominous dream and felt very uneasy.
不祥。
Zhè zhǒng niǎo de jiào shēng bèi rèn wéi shì bù xiáng de yù zhào.
The cry of this bird is considered an omen of misfortune.

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.

祥xiángauspicious

不 (not) with 祥 (auspicious) gives 'not auspicious', hence ominous.

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.

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

示示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng祥xiáng

Same sound today

祥 pairs 示 (altar) with 羊 for its sound. Originally it was just 羊, and 示 was added later to distinguish it.

Appears in