初春 (chū chūn) — early spring

Definition

noun
early spring

Examples

  • 初春。
    chū chūn De tiān qì hái bǐ jiào lěng.
    The weather in early spring is still relatively cold.
  • 初春。
    chū chūn Shì tà qīng de hǎo shí jié.
    Early spring is a good season for going on outings.
  • 初春。
    chū chūn De huā duǒ jiàn jiàn kāi fàng.
    Flowers gradually bloom in early spring.

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.

初chūearly
春chūnspring

初春 is the 初 part of 春, meaning early spring.

Characters in this word

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

初 combines 衤 (clothes) and 刀 (knife), showing the start of making clothes by cutting cloth.

Open 初 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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