天亮 (tiān liàng) — daybreak, dawn; to become light, to dawn | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

天亮 literally means 'sky brightens' — the moment dawn breaks and it gets light. Refers to the time of daybreak itself, not the broader period of 早晨.

daybreakdawnto become lightto dawn

Examples

天亮。
Wǒ men děng dào tiān liàng cái chū fā.
We waited until daybreak to set out.
天亮。
Xià tiān tiān liàng dé hěn zǎo.
In summer, it gets light very early.
天亮，。
tiān liàng De shí hou, niǎo r kāi shǐ chàng gē.
At daybreak, birds start singing.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

天tiānsky, day

亮liàngbright

天 is the sky or day, and 亮 is bright, so it describes the sky becoming bright.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng天tiān

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

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

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

人人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng亮liàng

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

亮 combines 人 (person) with 京, and the 京 part shows a tower body.

Appears in

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