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阴影 (yīn yǐng) — (literal) shadow, shade; (figurative) shadow, dark influence, psychological trauma

Definition

Literally 'shadow/shade' (e.g. under a tree) and figuratively a lasting negative trace in the mind. More concrete and visual than 影子, and darker than 阴暗's mood.

noun
(literal) shadowshade(figurative) shadowdark influencepsychological trauma
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 阴影。
    Dà shù xià miàn yǒu yí piàn yīn yǐng.
    There is a patch of shade under the big tree.
  • 阴影。
    Zhè jiàn shì gěi tā liú xià le xīn lǐ yīn yǐng.
    This incident left a psychological shadow on him.
  • 阴影。
    Tā zhōng yú zǒu chū le tóng nián de yīn yǐng.
    She finally emerged from the shadow of her childhood.

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.

阴yīndark
影yǐngshadow

阴 adds darkness to 影, naming a literal or figurative shadow.

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 陰; 阴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
侌
侌yīn陰yīn
Same sound today

The traditional form 陰 combines 阜, the meaning part, with 侌, the sound part. The simplified 阴 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 阴 →

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →
Appears in
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