天蓝 (tiān lán) — sky blue, azure | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sky blueazure

天蓝。
tiān lán Shì yì zhǒng fēi cháng róu hé de yán sè.
Sky blue is a very soft color.
天蓝。
Tā xǐ huan chuān tiān lán de yī fu.
She likes to wear sky-blue clothes.
天蓝。
Zhè fú huà yòng le hěn duō tiān lán.
This painting uses a lot of sky blue.

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.

天 names the sky, and 蓝 names blue; together they mean the blue of the 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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

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

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

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 藍; 蓝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān藍lán

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

For 蓝, the traditional form 藍 has 艸, grass, above 監, which gives the sound.