上旬 (shàng xún) — first ten days of a month

Definition

上旬 means the first ten days of a month (1st–10th), paired with 中旬 (11th–20th) and 下旬 (21st to month-end).

noun

first ten days of a month

Easily confused

上旬。
shàng xún De tiān qì tōng cháng bǐ jiào liáng shuǎng.
The weather in the first ten days is usually relatively cool.
上旬。
Gōng sī jiāng zài shàng xún zhào kāi nián dù huì yì.
The company will hold its annual meeting in the first ten days.
上旬？
Nǐ shàng xún néng wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù ma?
Can you finish this project by the first ten days?

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.

上shàngfirst/upper

旬xúnten-day period

First or upper plus ten-day period gives the first third of a month.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

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

日日rìsun; day

Sound part声符shēngfú

螾

螾yǐn旬xún

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

The old form of 旬 paired 日, the sun/day, with 螾, which gave the sound.

Appears in