星空 (xīng kōng) — starry sky, night sky full of stars | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

starry skynight sky full of stars

Examples

星空。
Wǒ xǐ huan zài qíng lǎng de yè wǎn yǎng wàng xīng kōng.
I like to look up at the starry sky on clear nights.
，星空。
Zài chéng shì de dēng guāng xià, hěn nán kàn dào měi lì de xīng kōng.
Under city lights, it's hard to see the beautiful starry sky.
星空。
Tā yòng wàng yuǎn jìng guān chá xīng kōng zhōng de xīng xing.
He used a telescope to observe the stars in the starry sky.

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 contributes star and 空 sky, together describing a sky full of stars.

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.

晶晶jīngtwinkling stars
生生shēng

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

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

穴工空

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuécave, hole

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng空kōng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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