夜空 (yè kōng) — night sky

Definition

noun
night sky
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 夜空
    Jīn tiān de yè kōng fēi cháng měi lì, kě yǐ kàn dào hěn duō xīng xing.
    Tonight's night sky is very beautiful; you can see many stars.
  • 夜空
    Wǒ men tǎng zài cǎo dì shàng, kàn zhe mǎn tiān fán xīng de yè kōng.
    We lay on the grass, looking at the night sky full of stars.
  • 夜空
    Zài qíng lǎng de yè kōng xià, wǒ men tán qǐ le tóng nián de shì.
    Under the clear night sky, we talked about things from our childhood.

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.

“夜” specifies the time and “空” means sky.

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
moon
Sound part声符shēngfú
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.

Open 夜 →

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
xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
gōngkōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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