睡意 (shuì yì) — drowsiness

Definition

noun
drowsiness

Examples

  • 睡意，。
    Tā gǎn dào yí zhèn shuì yì, xiǎng shuì jiào.
    He felt a wave of drowsiness and wanted to sleep.
  • ，睡意。
    Zǎo shàng qǐ chuáng hòu, wǒ de shuì yì hái méi xiāo shī.
    After waking up in the morning, my drowsiness hasn't disappeared yet.
  • 睡意。
    Kā fēi kě yǐ zàn shí qū sàn shuì yì.
    Coffee can temporarily dispel drowsiness.

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.

睡shuìsleep
意yìfeeling

The sleep (睡) feeling (意) builds the sense of drowsiness.

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
垂
垂chuí睡shuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

睡 combines 目, an eye, with 垂, which gives its sound.

Open 睡 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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