夜盲 (yè máng) — night blindness (nyctalopia)

Definition

A medical term for 'night blindness' (nyctalopia) — difficulty seeing in dim light, usually from vitamin A deficiency.

noun

night blindness (nyctalopia)

夜盲，。
Tā dé le yè máng, wǎn shàng kàn bù qīng lù.
He has night blindness and can't see the road clearly at night.
夜盲A。
yè máng Huàn zhě xū yào bǔ chōng wéi shēng sù A.
Patients with night blindness need to supplement vitamin A.
夜盲，。
Yī shēng shuō tā zhǐ shì qīng dù yè máng, bú yòng tài dān xīn.
The doctor said he only has mild night blindness, no need to worry too much.

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 gives night, and 盲 gives blind, describing blindness in darkness.

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.

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

亡目盲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

亡

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

盲 is made from 目, meaning “eye”, plus 亡, which gives the sound. The eye part relates to the meaning of blindness.