艳阳 (yàn yáng) — bright spring sunshine

Definition

Literary word for the brilliant, warming sunshine of spring — used in writing (e.g. 艳阳高照 'bright spring sun shining high'), not in casual speech.

noun
bright spring sunshine

Examples

  • 艳阳，。
    Jīn tiān yàn yáng gāo zhào, wǒ men yì qǐ qù gōng yuán ba.
    Today the bright spring sun is shining high; let's go to the park together.
  • 艳阳，。
    yàn yáng Zhī xià, huā r kāi dé gé wài měi lì.
    Under the bright spring sun, the flowers bloom especially beautifully.
  • 艳阳。
    Chūn tiān de yàn yáng ràng rén xīn qíng yú kuài.
    The bright spring sunshine in spring makes people feel happy.

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.

艳yànbright
阳yángsun

The 艳 sense of bright describes the 阳, giving sunny spring weather.

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 豔; 艳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
豐豐fēngabundant, great
Sound part声符shēngfú
盇
盇hé豔yàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 豔 pairs 豐 (abundant, great) with a sound component 盇; the simplified 艳 is a later abbreviation.

Open 艳 →

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 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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