八月份 (bā yuè fèn) — August

Definition

noun
August

Examples

  • 八月份。
    Wǒ bā yuè fèn yào qù běi jīng lǚ yóu.
    I'm going to travel to Beijing in August.
  • 八月份。
    bā yuè fèn De tiān qì hěn rè.
    The weather in August is very hot.
  • 八月份。
    Tā men bā yuè fèn jié hūn.
    They got married in August.

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.

八bāeight
月份month
月yuèmonth份fènpart
偏正Modifier + head

八 marks which 月份, and 月份 names a month by combining 月 month with 份 part.

Characters in this word

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

Open 月 →

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rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn份fèn(r)
Same sound today

份 is built from 亻, the person form written in full as 人, and 分, which gives the sound.

Open 份 →

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