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黑线 (hēi xiàn) — (medical) linea nigra (the dark line on the abdomen during pregnancy); (historical PRC terminology) black line; counterrevolutionary or revisionist line in political ideology

Definition

黑线 is a literal compound: literally 'black line'. In medicine it refers to linea nigra, the dark line down a pregnant belly; historically in PRC political language it meant a 'counterrevolutionary line'.

noun
(medical) linea nigra (the dark line on the abdomen during pregnancy)(historical PRC terminology) black linecounterrevolutionary or revisionist line in political ideology
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 黑线。
    Hěn duō yùn fù zài huái yùn zhōng qī huì chū xiàn yì tiáo hēi xiàn.
    Many pregnant women develop a linea nigra during the second trimester.
  • ，黑线。
    Wén gé qī jiān, tā bèi zhǐ jiān chí le yì tiáo hēi xiàn.
    During the Cultural Revolution, he was accused of adhering to a black line.
  • 黑线。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō pī pàn le suǒ wèi wén yì hēi xiàn de yǐng xiǎng.
    This novel criticizes the influence of the so-called black line in literature and art.

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.

黑hēiblack
线xiànline

黑 (black) describes the color or negative quality of 线 (line), giving a black line.

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.

Open 黑 →

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 線; 线 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
泉
泉quán線xiàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 線 uses 糹 (silk/thread) to show the meaning and 泉 to suggest the sound; the simplified 线 is a later shorthand.

Open 线 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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