霜冻 (shuāng dòng) — frost

Definition

noun
frost
Measure word · 次

Examples

  • 霜冻。
    Míng tiān zǎo shàng huì yǒu shuāng dòng.
    There will be frost tomorrow morning.
  • 霜冻。
    shuāng dòng Duì nóng zuò wù shāng hài hěn dà.
    Frost causes great damage to crops.
  • 霜冻。
    Kāi chē shí yào xiǎo xīn lù miàn shuāng dòng.
    Be careful of frost on the road when driving.

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.

霜shuāngfrost
冻dòngfreezing

霜 (frost) combines with 冻 (freezing) to mean frost or freezing 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
相
相xiāng霜shuāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

霜 has 雨 (rain) on top for weather and 相 (xiāng) below for the sound.

Open 霜 →

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 凍; 冻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīng
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng凍dòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 凍 pairs 冫 (ice) with 東 for the sound; the simplified 冻 is a later shorthand.

Open 冻 →

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