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星期六 (xīng qī liù) — Saturday

Definition

The formal six-character form for Saturday; the common spoken shorthand is 周六.

noun
Saturday

Examples

  • 星期六。
    Zhè ge xīng qī liù wǒ men yǒu kǎo shì.
    This Saturday we have an exam.
  • 星期六。
    xīng qī liù Shì zhōu mò de kāi shǐ.
    Saturday is the start of the weekend.
  • 星期六。
    Wǒ měi gè xīng qī liù dōu qù gōng yuán pǎo bù.
    I go running in the park every Saturday.

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
星xīngstar期qīperiod
偏正Modifier + head
六liùsix

星 and 期 form 'week', and 六 is 'six', naming the sixth day of the week.

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

Grammar

Appears in
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