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星期一 (xīng qī yī) — Monday

Definition

noun
Monday

Examples

  • 星期一。
    Xià ge xīng qī yī wǒ qǐng nǐ qù chī fàn.
    Next Monday I'll treat you to a meal.
  • 星期一，。
    Cóng xīng qī yī kāi shǐ, wǒ yào měi tiān pǎo bù.
    Starting from Monday, I want to run every day.
  • 星期一？。
    xīng qī yī Nǐ yǒu kòng ma? wǒ men yì qǐ kàn diàn yǐng.
    Are you free on Monday? Let's watch a movie together.

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.

星期week
星xīngstar期qīperiod
偏正Modifier + head
一yīfirst

星期 refers to the week and 一 refers to the first day, so the word names Monday.

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.

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Open 星 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Grammar

Appears in
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