淡紫 (dàn zǐ) — light purple; lavender

Definition

A color adjective meaning pale, soft purple — lavender. Modifies nouns directly (e.g., 淡紫连衣裙) and refers to a light tint, not deep purple.

adjective
light purplelavender

Examples

  • 淡紫。
    Tā chuān le yí jiàn dàn zǐ lián yī qún.
    She wore a light purple dress.
  • 淡紫。
    Zhè zhǒng dàn zǐ de yán sè hěn piào liang.
    This kind of light purple color is very pretty.
  • 淡紫。
    dàn zǐ Hé bái sè dā pèi qǐ lái hěn hǎo kàn.
    Light purple and white look very nice together.

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.

淡dànlight
紫zǐpurple

淡紫 is a pale 紫, with 淡 making the purple color lighter.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán淡dàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

淡 puts 氵 (water) beside 炎, which gives the sound yán.

Open 淡 →

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
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
此
此cǐ紫zǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

紫 is made of 糸, a silk-related part, and 此, which gives the sound cǐ.

Open 紫 →

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