背光 (bèi guāng) — to be backlit, to face away from the light, to be in poor light (especially for photography or viewing)

Definition

Verb meaning to be backlit or to face away from the light source, which leaves the subject in shadow (especially in photography). It can be used as a verb phrase (背了光) or an adjective (背光的照片).

verb
to be backlitto face away from the lightto be in poor light (especially for photography or viewing)

Examples

  • 背光，。
    Zhè zhāng zhào piàn yǒu xiē bèi guāng, suǒ yǐ rén wù kàn qǐ lái hěn àn.
    This photo is a bit backlit, so the person looks very dark.
  • 背光，。
    Pāi zhào de shí hou bú yào bèi guāng, fǒu zé liǎn huì kàn bù qīng chǔ.
    When taking photos, don't face away from the light, otherwise the face won't be clear.
  • ，。
    Tā bèi le guāng, suǒ yǐ zhào piàn de xiào guǒ bù hǎo.
    He was backlit, so the photo didn't turn out well.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

背bèiturn away
光guānglight

"背" is to turn away, "光" is light; together they describe facing away from the light.

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
月Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
北
北běi背bèi
Same sound today

背 was first written as 北; 北 gives the sound, and 肉 (meat, written as 月 here) was added to separate it from 北’s north meaning.

Open 背 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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