除夕夜 (chú xī yè) — Chinese New Year's Eve (the night before Lunar…

Definition

noun

Chinese New Year's Eve (the night before Lunar New Year)

除夕夜，。
Měi nián chú xī yè, wǒ men quán jiā dōu huì jù zài yì qǐ chī nián yè fàn.
Every Chinese New Year's Eve, our whole family gathers to have the reunion dinner.
，除夕夜。
Wèi le yíng jiē xīn nián, chú xī yè rén men cháng cháng shǒu suì dào shēn yè.
To welcome the new year, people often stay up late on Chinese New Year's Eve.
除夕夜。
Fàng biān pào shì chú xī yè de chuán tǒng xí sú zhī yī.
Setting off firecrackers is one of the traditional customs of Chinese New Year's Eve.

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.

除夕New Year's Eve

偏正Modifier + head

除夕 (the night of removing the old year) + 夜 (night) names Chinese New Year's Eve.

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

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú除chú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

除 is built from 阜 and 余, with 余 giving the sound.

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

夕 was drawn as a crescent moon.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Appears in