春分 (Chūn fēn) — Spring Equinox (4th solar term, ∼March 20–21)

Definition

春分 (Chūnfēn) is the Spring Equinox, the 4th of the 24 solar terms (节气), falling around March 20–21 when day and night are equal in length.

noun

Spring Equinox (4th solar term, ∼March 20–21)

春分，。
Chūn fēn Dào le, bái tiān hé hēi yè yí yàng cháng.
The spring equinox has arrived; day and night are the same length.
春分。
Zhōng guó nóng mín zài Chūn fēn qián hòu kāi shǐ bō zhòng.
Chinese farmers start sowing around the spring equinox.
春分，。
Chūn fēn Guò hòu, tiān qì jiàn jiàn biàn nuǎn le.
After the spring equinox, the weather gradually gets warmer.

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.

分fēnequal division

春 marks the season and 分 marks equal division, so 春分 names the spring equinox.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

屯

屯tún春chūn

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

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

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

八刀分

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.