白垩纪 (Bái è jì) — Cretaceous period (geological period, approx. 1…

Definition

noun

Cretaceous period (geological period, approx. 145–66 million years ago)

白垩纪。
Kǒng lóng zài Bái è jì mò qī miè jué le.
Dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.
白垩纪。
Bái è jì De dì céng zhōng hán yǒu dà liàng shí huī yán.
The strata of the Cretaceous period contain large amounts of limestone.
白垩纪。
Kē xué jiā zài Bái è jì yán shí zhōng fā xiàn le xīn de huà shí.
Scientists discovered new fossils in Cretaceous rocks.

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.

白垩white chalk

白báiwhite垩èchalk/white earth

偏正Modifier + head

白 and 垩 name white chalk, and 纪 marks an era; together they mean the Cretaceous period.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 紀; 纪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìsilk

Sound part声符shēngfú

己

Same sound today

The traditional form 紀 pairs 糸, silk, with 己 as the sound part; the simplified 纪 is a shorthand.