黄色 (huáng sè) — yellow; the color yellow; pornography; obscene… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

黄色 is the color yellow (used as a noun for things, as in 黄色的衣服). 黄 by itself is more literary/abstract — use 黄色 for everyday color references and for 'pornographic.'

noun

yellowthe color yellowpornographyobscene content

Examples

黄色。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn huáng sè de yī fu.
She wore a yellow dress.
黄色。
Zhè zhǒng huā shì huáng sè de.
This kind of flower is yellow.
黄色。
Zhè shì yí bù huáng sè diàn yǐng.
This is a pornographic movie.

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.

黄huángyellow

黄 yellow and 色 color form the name of the color yellow.

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

炗

炗guāng黃huáng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

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

爪爪zhuǎclaw; hand
卩卩jiékneeling person

色 pairs 爪 (a hand) with 卩 (a kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on the kneeling person.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 Colors 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 3 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.