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阳历 (yáng lì) — solar calendar; the Gregorian calendar (as opposed to the lunar calendar)

Definition

阳历 (yáng lì) is the 'solar / Gregorian' calendar — the standard Western-style calendar used in China for daily life, as opposed to 阴历 (the lunar calendar) used for traditional festivals.

noun
solar calendarthe Gregorian calendar (as opposed to the lunar calendar)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 阳历？
    Tā de shēng rì shì yáng lì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?
    What month and day is his birthday on the solar calendar?
  • ，阳历。
    Zhōng guó de chūn jié shì gēn jù nóng lì, bú shì yáng lì.
    The Chinese Spring Festival is based on the lunar calendar, not the solar calendar.
  • 阳历。
    Wǒ men gōng sī yòng yáng lì ān pái gōng zuò jì huà.
    Our company uses the solar calendar to arrange work plans.

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.

阳yángsolar
历lìcalendar

The solar quality of 阳 combines with calendar in 历 to name the sun-based reckoning.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
厤
厤lì歷lì
Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Open 历 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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