夏 (xià) — (bound form) summer (in compounds like 夏天, 夏季); (bound form) Xia dynasty (in 夏朝); (bound form) ancient name for China (in 华夏)
Definition
On its own, 夏 is a bound morpheme, not a stand-alone word — it appears in compounds like 夏天 for 'summer' and 夏朝 for the Xia dynasty. Don't use it by itself; pair it with 天, 季, or 朝.
bound form
summer (in compounds like 夏天, 夏季)Xia dynasty (in 夏朝)ancient name for China (in 华夏)
Examples
- ，。xià Tiān hěn rè, wǒ xǐ huan yóu yǒng.Summer is hot, I like swimming.
- 夏。xià Cháo shì zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng dì yī gè cháo dài.The Xia dynasty was the first dynasty in Chinese history.
- 夏。Huá xià shì zhōng huá mín zú de gǔ chēng.Huaxia is the ancient name for the Chinese nation.
Origin
Compound ideograph六书liùshū
会意huìyìTwo or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.
- 日日rìsun
- 頁頁yèhead; man
Some scholars connect 夏 to 日 (sun) and 頁 (head; man), reading it as a man under the sun, but this is uncertain.
Appears in
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