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婚宴 (hūn yàn) — wedding banquet, wedding reception

Definition

noun
wedding banquetwedding reception
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 婚宴。
    Tā de hūn yàn dìng zài xià ge yuè jǔ xíng.
    His wedding reception is scheduled for next month.
  • 婚宴。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn zhuān mén chéng bàn dà xíng hūn yàn.
    This hotel specializes in hosting large wedding banquets.
  • ，。
    Cān jiā wán hūn yàn, tā men jiù chū fā qù dù mì yuè le.
    After attending the wedding reception, they left for their honeymoon.

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.

婚hūnmarriage
宴yànbanquet

婚 refers to marriage and 宴 to a banquet, so it means a wedding banquet.

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
昏
昏hūn婚hūn
Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

Open 婚 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
妟
妟yàn宴
Same sound today

宴 has 宀, a roof, above 妟, which shows a woman and the sun. 妟 also supplies the sound, and the whole shape pictures a woman under a roof with sunlight.

Open 宴 →
Appears in
Dining & RestaurantsRomance & Marriage

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