(xiāo) — night (bound morpheme, used in compounds)

Definition

宵 (xiāo) is a bound literary word for 'night' — never used alone, only inside compounds like 通宵 (all night) or 宵禁 (curfew).

bound form
night (bound morpheme, used in compounds)

Examples

  • Zán men wán le yí gè tōng xiāo.
    We hung out all night.
  • Tā jīng cháng chī xiāo yè, duì wèi bù hǎo.
    She often eats late-night snacks, which is bad for her stomach.
  • Yì qíng qī jiān shí xíng le xiāo jìn.
    A curfew was enforced during the pandemic.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
xiàoxiāo
Same sound today

宵 pairs 宀 (roof) with 肖, a part that gives the sound.

Appears in

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