半夜 (bàn yè) — the middle of the night; midnight | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'half a night', used for midnight or the middle of the night. More specific and time-of-day focused than the general 夜 ('night'); for the deep, late-night hours use 深夜.

the middle of the nightmidnight

Examples

半夜。
Tā měi tiān gōng zuò dào bàn yè.
He works until midnight every day.
半夜。
bàn yè Tū rán xià qǐ le dà yǔ.
In the middle of the night, it suddenly started raining heavily.
半夜。
Wǒ men liáo dào bàn yè cái shuì jiào.
We chatted until midnight before going to sleep.

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.

The part “半” means half or middle, and “夜” means night; together they indicate the middle of the night.

Characters in this word

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

八八bāto divide
牛牛niúcow

The shape pairs 八 (to divide) with 牛 (cow), showing a cow cut into two halves.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

亦yì夜yè

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

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Appears in

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