北半球 (běi bàn qiú) — Northern Hemisphere | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Northern Hemisphere

Examples

北半球。
běi bàn qiú De qì hòu yǔ nán bàn qiú yǒu hěn dà bù tóng.
The climate of the Northern Hemisphere is very different from that of the Southern Hemisphere.
北半球。
Zhōng guó wèi yú běi bàn qiú.
China is located in the Northern Hemisphere.
北半球。
běi bàn qiú De xià jì zài liù yuè dào bā yuè zhī jiān.
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is between June and August.

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.

半球half sphere

半bànhalf球qiúsphere

偏正Modifier + head

北 gives north, while 半球 means half of a sphere, together the northern half of Earth.

Characters in this word

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

The form 北 shows two people standing back to back. It originally meant 'back'.

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

八八bāto divide
牛牛niúcow

The shape pairs 八 (to divide) with 牛 (cow), showing a cow cut into two halves.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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