窗沿 (chuāng yán) — windowsill

Definition

noun
windowsill

Examples

  • 窗沿。
    Tā bǎ huā pén fàng zài chuāng yán shàng shài tài yáng.
    He placed the flowerpot on the windowsill to get sun.
  • 窗沿，。
    chuāng yán Shàng luò le yī céng huī, xū yào cā gān jìng.
    A layer of dust has fallen on the windowsill and needs to be wiped clean.
  • 窗沿。
    Xiǎo māo xǐ huan tiào shàng chuāng yán kàn wài miàn de xiǎo niǎo.
    The kitten likes to jump onto the windowsill and watch the birds outside.

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.

窗chuāngwindow
沿yánedge

窗 points to the window, and 沿 points to its edge.

Characters in this word

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

窗 combines 穴 (hole) with 囱 (window), giving the sense of an opening used as a window.

Open 窗 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣沿yán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沿 pairs 氵 (water) with 㕣, which shows how it was pronounced; it originally meant the edge of a river, which led to the sense of moving along something.

Open 沿 →

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