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开春 (kāi chūn) — beginning of spring (as a time period); early spring

Definition

noun
beginning of spring (as a time period)early spring

Examples

  • 开春，。
    kāi chūn De shí hou, tiān qì màn màn biàn nuǎn le.
    At the beginning of spring, the weather gradually warms up.
  • 开春。
    Wǒ men dǎ suàn zài kāi chūn de shí hou zhǒng yì xiē huā.
    We plan to plant some flowers at the beginning of spring.
  • 开春。
    kāi chūn Shì yì nián zhōng zuì máng de jì jié zhī yī.
    The beginning of spring is one of the busiest seasons of the year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāibegin
春chūnspring

开 means begin and 春 means spring; together they point to the opening period of spring.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →
Appears in
Climate & Seasons

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