梅雨 (méi yǔ) — East Asian rainy season (in late spring and ear…

Definition

noun

East Asian rainy season (in late spring and early summer)

梅雨。
Jiāng nán dì qū de méi yǔ tōng cháng cóng liù yuè chū kāi shǐ.
The rainy season in the Jiangnan region usually starts in early June.
梅雨，。
méi yǔ Qī jiān kōng qì hěn cháo shī, yào zhù yì fáng méi.
During the rainy season, the air is very humid; you need to prevent mold.
梅雨。
Jīn nián méi yǔ lái de bǐ wǎng nián zǎo.
This year's rainy season came earlier than usual.

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.

梅 points to plum trees and 雨 to rain, so the word means the rainy season tied to plum season.

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.

木每梅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

Same sound today

梅 is built from 木 (tree) and 每, which gives the sound; it is used for the plum tree.

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

The shape 雨 is an old picture of a cloud with rain drops falling from it; the top line was added later.