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星期五 (xīng qī wǔ) — Friday

Definition

noun
Friday

Examples

  • 星期五。
    Jīn tiān shì xīng qī wǔ.
    Today is Friday.
  • 星期五。
    Wǒ men xīng qī wǔ yì qǐ qù chī fàn ba.
    Let's go eat together on Friday.
  • 星期五？
    xīng qī wǔ Wǎn shàng nǐ yǒu shén me ān pái?
    What are your plans for Friday evening?

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.

星期week
星xīngstar期qīperiod
偏正Modifier + head
五wǔfive

星期 'week' names the cycle and 五 'five' picks the fifth day of that cycle.

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.

The top of 星 is a later simplified form of 晶, twinkling stars; the bottom 生 shows the sound.

Open 星 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

Grammar

Appears in
Days & Weeks5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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