夜班 (yè bān) — night shift | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 'night shift' is the scheduled work period at night, paired with 上 (上夜班). 夜 and 夜晚 just mean 'night' as a time of day, not a work period.

noun

night shift

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.

夜 “night” marks 班 “shift” as occurring after dark.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

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

班 shows 珏, pieces of jade, and 刀, a knife, cutting them into pieces.

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