拼音
- tiān (first tone, high and level)
sky, heaven; day; weather (天气)
字形拆解
Ideographic description
⿱一大The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 一shape partno entry yetA line drawn flat across the top: what is above the head.
- 大meaning partA person standing with the arms outstretched — the height the line is measured from.
Mnemonic
A person 大 with a line laid flat above the head: what is over someone standing at full stretch is the sky. Since a day runs from one sky to the next, 天 counts days as well — 今天, 明天, 三天. Watch the two horizontals: in 天 the upper one is the shorter. Make it the longer and you have written 夫 instead.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.