星河 (xīng hé) — Milky Way | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

Milky Way

Examples

星河。
Yè wǎn de xīng hé fēi cháng měi lì.
The Milky Way is very beautiful at night.
星河。
Tā yòng wàng yuǎn jìng guān chá xīng hé.
He observed the Milky Way with a telescope.
星河。
xīng hé Zhōng yǒu wú shù kē xīng xing.
There are countless stars in the Milky Way.

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.

A river made of stars names the Milky Way.

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.

晶晶jīngtwinkling stars
生生shēng

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

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

何

何hé河hé

Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

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