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中叶 (zhōng yè) — middle period (of a century or era)

Definition

中叶 (zhōng yè) means 'middle period' of an era or dynasty, used in formal historical writing. Compare with 中期, which stresses 'mid- to long-term' and is common in business, politics, and plans.

noun
middle period (of a century or era)

Examples

  • 18中叶，。
    Zài 18 shì jì zhōng yè, ōu zhōu de gōng yè fā zhǎn hěn kuài.
    In the mid-18th century, Europe's industrial development was very fast.
  • 中叶。
    Táng cháo zhōng yè wén huà hěn fā dá.
    The mid-Tang Dynasty had very developed culture.
  • 中叶，。
    Dào běn shì jì zhōng yè, rén kǒu kě néng dá dào jiǔ shí yì.
    By the mid-21st century, the population may reach 9 billion.

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.

中zhōngmiddle
叶yèperiod

中 points to the middle, and 叶 means the period, so together they mean the middle period of an era.

Characters in this word

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
十
十shí叶yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

Open 叶 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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