向阳 (xiàng yáng) — to face the sun; sunny; (of a building or room) facing south / getting good sunlight

Definition

向阳 describes a building, room, or window that faces south and gets strong sunlight — a feature that makes spaces warm and bright, especially valued in winter. Pairs with 阳台, 窗户, 房间.

verb
to face the sunsunny(of a building or room) facing south / getting good sunlight

Examples

  • 向阳，。
    Zhè jiān fáng zi hěn xiàng yáng, dōng tiān tè bié nuǎn huo.
    This room faces the sun, so it's especially warm in winter.
  • ，。
    Nà ge yáng tái xiàng zhe yáng, zhòng huā zuì hé shì le.
    That balcony faces south — perfect for growing flowers.
  • 向阳，。
    Tā xǐ huan xiàng yáng de chuāng hu, kě yǐ duō shài tài yáng.
    He likes windows that get sun, so he can get more sunlight.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

向xiàngtoward/facing
阳yángsun

“向” is toward or facing, and “阳” is sun, so it is facing the sun.

Characters in this word

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

向 originally drew 宀 (house) with 口 to show an echo in a place; later it was used for direction.

Open 向 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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