秋天 (qiū tiān) — autumn | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

autumn

Measure word · 个

Examples

秋天，。
qiū tiān Dào le, tiān qì biàn liáng kuai le.
Autumn has arrived; the weather has become cool.
秋天。
Wǒ xǐ huan qiū tiān de hóng yè.
I like the red leaves of autumn.
秋天，。
Yí gè qiū tiān de xià wǔ, wǒ men qù gōng yuán sàn bù.
One autumn afternoon, we went for a walk in the park.

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.

秋 means autumn and 天 means season, together naming the autumn 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

禾禾hégrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

𤒅

𤒅𤒅秋qiū

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 秋 pairs 禾 (grain) with 𤒅, which gives 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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng天tiān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 Climate & Seasons

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