月夜 (yuè yè) — moonlit night | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

moonlit night

Examples

月夜，。
Zài yí gè yuè yè, wǒ men yì qǐ sàn bù.
On a moonlit night, we went for a walk together.
月夜。
Wǒ xǐ huan zài yuè yè lǐ dú shū.
I like to read in the moonlit night.
月夜，。
yuè yè Hěn měi lì, xīng xing yě hěn liàng.
The moonlit night is beautiful, and the stars are also bright.

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.

“月” supplies moonlight, and “夜” is the night it falls on.

Characters in this word

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

亦yì夜yè

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Appears in

Sky & Space Time of Day

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