庭院 (tíng yuàn) — courtyard, patio

Definition

noun
courtyardpatio
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 庭院
    Zhè dòng fáng zi hòu miàn yǒu yí gè piào liang de tíng yuàn.
    There is a beautiful courtyard behind this house.
  • 庭院
    Xià tiān wǒ men xǐ huan zài tíng yuàn lǐ chéng liáng.
    In summer, we like to cool off in the courtyard.
  • 庭院
    tíng yuàn De dì miàn pù le qīng shí bǎn.
    The courtyard floor is paved with bluestone slabs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

tíngcourtyard

The 庭 courtyard and 院 yard both point to open space around a house, together meaning a courtyard.

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
tíngtíng
Same sound today

庭 combines 广 with 廷. The 廷 part gives the sound, and 广 is the meaning part.

Open 庭 →

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
Written in full as
Sound part声符shēngfú
wányuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →
Appears in

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