朝阳 (cháo yáng) — the eastern or sunny slope of a mountain (the side that faces the sun)

Definition

In nature, 朝阳 means the sunny, sun-facing side of a mountain — not a generic 'east'. The other pronunciation 朝阳 (zhāoyáng) names places like Beijing's Chaoyang District.

noun
the eastern or sunny slope of a mountain (the side that faces the sun)
Measure word · 面

Examples

  • 朝阳。
    Zhè zuò shān de cháo yáng zhǎng mǎn le shù mù.
    The eastern slope of this mountain is covered with trees.
  • 朝阳。
    Běi jīng cháo yáng qū shì shāng yè zhōng xīn zhī yī.
    Beijing's Chaoyang District is one of the commercial centers.
  • 朝阳。
    Tā men xuǎn zé zài shān de cháo yáng jiàn le yí zuò fáng zi.
    They built a house on the sunny side of the mountain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

朝cháoface
阳yángsun

The side that 朝 (faces) the 阳 (sun), hence the sunny eastern slope.

Characters in this word

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

Originally, 朝 showed the sun rising above the ground while the moon was still in the sky, giving the sense of morning.

Open 朝 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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