树阴 (shù yīn) — shade (of a tree)

Definition

noun
shade (of a tree)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 树阴。
    Xià tiān wǒ men xǐ huan zài shù yīn xià chéng liáng.
    In summer we like to cool off in the shade of the trees.
  • ，。
    Zhè kē dà shù yīn hěn nóng mì, zuò zài zhè lǐ hěn liáng kuai.
    This big tree's shade is very dense; sitting here is very cool.
  • 树阴。
    Tā kào zài shù yīn xià de cháng yǐ shàng shuì zháo le.
    He leaned against the bench in the tree shade and fell asleep.

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.

树shùtree
阴yīnshade

树 is tree and 阴 is shade, giving the shade cast by a tree.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
尌
尌shù樹shù
Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

Open 树 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陰; 阴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
侌
侌yīn陰yīn
Same sound today

The traditional form 陰 combines 阜, the meaning part, with 侌, the sound part. The simplified 阴 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 阴 →

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