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复活节 (Fù huó jié) — Easter

Definition

noun
Easter

Examples

  • 复活节。
    Jīn nián Fù huó jié shì sì yuè de dì yī gè xīng qī rì.
    This year Easter is on the first Sunday of April.
  • 复活节。
    Hái zi men zài Fù huó jié nà tiān huì qù zhǎo cǎi dàn.
    Children go looking for Easter eggs on that day.
  • 复活节。
    Xǔ duō jiā tíng zài Fù huó jié qī jiān huì yì qǐ jù cān.
    Many families have a meal together during Easter.

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.

复活revive
复fùagain活huólive
偏正Modifier + head
节jiéfestival

复活 means coming back to life and 节 is a festival, together naming Easter.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
Festivals & HolidaysReligion & Belief

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