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星期天 (xīng qī tiān) — Sunday

Definition

Casual spoken word for 'Sunday'. Identical in meaning to 星期日, but 星期天 is the everyday form. 星期 itself means 'week' or 'day of the week'.

noun
Sunday
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 星期天。
    Wǒ men xīng qī tiān qù gōng yuán wán ba.
    Let's go to the park on Sunday.
  • 星期天？
    Jīn tiān xīng qī tiān ma?
    Is today Sunday?
  • 星期天？
    Xià ge xīng qī tiān shì jǐ hào?
    What date is next Sunday?

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
天tiānday

The seven-day cycle named by star and period is joined with day to point to the seventh day.

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 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
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.

Open 天 →

Grammar

Appears in
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