天棚 (tiān péng) — ceiling; awning; canopy

Definition

Literally 'sky canopy', 天棚 covers both an indoor ceiling and an outdoor awning/canopy — the word spans inside (天花板) and outside (遮阳棚) uses, so read the context to tell which.

noun
ceilingawningcanopy
Easily confused

Examples

  • 天棚。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān de tiān péng hěn gāo.
    The ceiling in this room is very high.
  • 天棚。
    Shāng diàn mén kǒu dā le yí gè tiān péng.
    They put up an awning at the store entrance.
  • 天棚。
    Xià tiān zài tiān péng xià miàn hē chá hěn shū fu.
    It's very comfortable to drink tea under the canopy in summer.

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.

天tiānsky
棚péngshed

The sense of 天 as sky combines with 棚 as shed to mean an overhead covering.

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
大大dà
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.

Open 天 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
朋
朋péng棚péng
Same sound today

棚 pairs 木 (tree) with 朋, and 朋 gives the sound.

Open 棚 →

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