黑影 (hēi yǐng) — dark shadow | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

dark shadow

Measure word · 个

黑影。
Wǒ zài hēi àn zhōng kàn dào yí gè hēi yǐng.
I saw a dark shadow in the darkness.
黑影。
Nà ge hēi yǐng màn màn dì yí dòng guò lái.
That dark shadow slowly moved over.
黑影。
hēi yǐng Cóng shù hòu yì shǎn ér guò.
A dark shadow flashed past from behind the tree.

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.

黑 describes the 影 as dark.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

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

景彡影

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

景

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.