朝霞 (zhāo xiá) — rosy clouds at dawn, morning glow

Definition

The colored clouds that light up the sky at sunrise. Often paired with 晚霞 (the evening counterpart).

noun

rosy clouds at dawnmorning glow

Measure word · 片

朝霞。
Jīn tiān zǎo shàng de zhāo xiá tè bié měi.
The morning glow today was especially beautiful.
朝霞。
zhāo xiá Yù shì jīn tiān huì shì gè hǎo tiān qì.
The rosy clouds at dawn indicate that today will be good weather.
朝霞。
Tā xǐ huan zài hú biān kàn zhāo xiá.
He likes to watch the morning glow by the lake.

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.

霞xiárosy clouds

朝 gives morning, and 霞 names the rosy clouds lit at that time.

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.

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

雨叚霞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ霞xiá

Same sound today

霞 combines 雨, meaning rain, with 叚, which gives the sound.