昏黄 (hūn huáng) — pale yellow and dim (of light, especially at dusk or from an old lamp)

Definition

Describes light that is yellow and dim, as at dusk or from an old lamp — not a bright or vivid yellow.

adjective
pale yellow and dim (of light, especially at dusk or from an old lamp)

Examples

  • 昏黄。
    Xī yáng bǎ tiān kōng rǎn chéng yí piàn hūn huáng de yán sè.
    The sunset dyed the sky a dusky yellow color.
  • 昏黄。
    Lǎo jiē shàng zhǐ yǒu yì zhǎn hūn huáng de lù dēng.
    On the old street there was only one dim yellow streetlamp.
  • 昏黄。
    Tā zuò zài hūn huáng de dēng guāng xià kàn shū.
    He sat reading under the dim yellow light.

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.

昏hūndim
黄huángyellow

昏 (dim) and 黄 (yellow) combine to describe a dim, pale yellow light.

Characters in this word

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

昏 combines 日 (sun) with 氏, a part showing lowering or going down. The picture is the sun going down at dusk.

Open 昏 →

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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