夜幕 (yè mù) — the curtain of night; the gathering darkness; t… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

the curtain of nightthe gathering darknessthe onset of night

Examples

夜幕，。
yè mù Jiàng lín, chéng shì de dēng guāng zhú jiàn liàng qǐ.
Night fell, and the city's lights gradually came on.
夜幕，。
Zài yè mù de yǎn hù xià, tā men qiāo qiāo de chū fā le.
Under the cover of night, they set off quietly.
夜幕，。
yè mù Lǒng zhào zhe dà dì, xīng xing kāi shǐ zài tiān kōng zhōng shǎn shuò.
Night shrouded the earth, and stars began to twinkle in the sky.

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.

幕mùcurtain

'夜' night and '幕' curtain combine as the curtain of night.

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

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.

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

莫巾幕

Meaning part形符xíngfú

巾巾jīncloth

Sound part声符shēngfú

莫

莫mò幕mù

Same sound today

幕 combines 莫 above 巾 (cloth); 莫 gives the sound.

Appears in

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