闪闪 (shǎn shǎn) — flickering; glittering; shimmering

Definition

闪闪 (shǎnshǎn) is a reduplicated bound form — it cannot stand alone, only attaches to a noun (e.g. 泪光, 波光, 星光) to mean 'shimmering, twinkling'. Like English 'glint-', it always modifies what follows.

bound form

flickeringglitteringshimmering

Examples

闪闪。
Yè kōng zhōng xīng xing shǎn shǎn fā guāng.
The stars are twinkling in the night sky.
闪闪。
Tā de yǎn jing lǐ shǎn zhe shǎn shǎn de lèi guāng.
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
闪闪。
Yuǎn chù de hú miàn shàng bō guāng shǎn shǎn.
The lake shimmered with rippling light in the distance.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

闪shǎnflash

闪 (flash) doubled to give a flickering, glittering sense.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 閃; 闪 is its simplified writing.

門人閃

門門méngate
人人rénperson

In the traditional 閃, 人 (person) appears inside 門 (gate), showing a person running through a gate. The simplified 闪 is a later shorthand.

Open 闪 →