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零星 (líng xīng) — scattered; sporadic; fragmentary

Definition

Describes things that are scattered and few — like occasional income or fragmentary impressions. Pairs as an adjective (零星的 + noun); for truly random/chaotic patterns use 乱 or 随机, and for small loose pieces see 零碎.

adjective
scatteredsporadicfragmentary

Examples

  • 零星。
    Chuāng wài piāo zhe líng xīng de xuě huā.
    Scattered snowflakes are drifting outside the window.
  • ，零星。
    Guān yú nà cì lǚ xíng, wǒ zhǐ yǒu yì xiē líng xīng yìn xiàng.
    I only have a few fragmentary impressions of that trip.
  • 零星。
    Tā kào dǎ líng gōng huò dé líng xīng shōu rù.
    He gets sporadic income from doing odd jobs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

零língscattered
星xīngscattered

零 and 星 both suggest scattered tiny points, so together they describe something fragmentary or sporadic.

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng零líng
Same sound today

In 零, the 雨 part depicts thick raindrops falling from the sky; the 令 part gives the sound.

Open 零 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Open 星 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract ConceptsQuantity & Amount

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