影 (yǐng) — (bound form) shadow, reflection; (bound form) image, picture; photography; (bound form) film, movie
Definition
影 is a bound form meaning 'shadow/reflection/film' — it never stands alone, only appears inside compounds like 电影 (movie), 影子 (shadow), or 倒影 (reflection).
bound form
shadowreflectionimagepicturephotographyfilmmovie
Examples
- 。Wǒ men yì qǐ kàn diàn yǐng ba.Let's watch a movie together.
- ，影。Tài yáng chū lái le, shù yǐng hěn duǎn.The sun came out, so the tree shadow is very short.
- 。Hú miàn shàng yǒu shān de dào yǐng.There is a reflection of the mountain on the lake surface.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
彡彡shān
影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.
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