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仲夏 (zhòng xià) — midsummer (the second month of summer in the lunar calendar)

Definition

Literary/classical term for midsummer — the second month of summer in the traditional lunar calendar. Much more formal than the everyday 夏天.

noun
midsummer (the second month of summer in the lunar calendar)

Examples

  • 仲夏。
    zhòng xià Shì xià tiān zuì rè de shí qī.
    Midsummer is the hottest period of summer.
  • 仲夏。
    Rén men zài zhòng xià shí cháng cháng qù hǎi biān dù jià.
    People often go to the seaside for vacation in midsummer.
  • 仲夏。
    Zhè shǒu shī miáo xiě le zhòng xià de měi lì jǐng sè.
    This poem depicts the beautiful scenery of midsummer.

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.

仲zhòngsecond
夏xiàsummer

仲 means second or middle and 夏 means summer, together giving midsummer.

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
中
中zhōng仲zhòng
Same sound today

In 仲, the left part is 亻, a person, and the right part is 中, used for its sound.

Open 仲 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 日日rìsun
  • 頁頁yèhead; man

Some scholars connect 夏 to 日 (sun) and 頁 (head; man), reading it as a man under the sun, but this is uncertain.

Open 夏 →
Appears in
Climate & Seasons

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