<p>You can use: 冬、冬季、冬天 even 萧条期 can mean winter: a bleak, desolate period. Why not have more than 1 word with the same meaning? That makes writing more interesting.</p>

<p>Winter is a word whose origin is unknown. It may be related to an old word for white, but that is just a guess.</p>

<p>In English you may say winter, or wintertime. As Drooze mentioned, maybe 冬 surfaces more, but not solely, as an adjective.</p>

<p>We might say: a winter coat</p>

<p>but I would not say: a wintertime coat</p>

<p>Robert Louis Stevenson called winter Winter-Time, nowadays we write wintertime.</p>

<p>Which brings me to his poem:</p>

<p>Winter-Time Robert Louis Stevenson - 1850-1894</p>

<p>Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,<br>
冬日的清早太阳还没露头<br>
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;<br>
它是一条冻僵，而又充满热量的瞌睡虫；<br>
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,<br>
眨巴了一、两个钟头的眼睛，<br>
A blood-red orange, sets again.<br>
又像一颗血红的橙子再落下去。  </p>

<p>Before the stars have left the skies,<br>
我在星星从空中消失之前，<br>
At morning in the dark I rise;<br>
的漆黑清晨升起<br>
And shivering in my nakedness,<br>
全身赤裸的我止不住地颤抖；<br>
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.<br>
只能借着微弱的烛光来沐浴和穿衣   </p>

<p>Close by the jolly fire I sit<br>
我靠近让人愉快的火堆旁坐下<br>
To warm my frozen bones a bit;<br>
以此来让我冰冷的身子暖和一点；<br>
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore<br>
或者开着由驯鹿拉的雪橇，去探索<br>
The colder countries round the door.<br>
门外更寒冷的地方。</p>

<p>When to go out, my nurse doth wrap<br>
我出门时，我的保姆把我裹进<br>
Me in my comforter and cap;<br>
围巾和帽子里<br>
The cold wind burns my face, and blows<br>
寒冷的风将我的脸颊吹得通红<br>
Its frosty pepper up my nose.<br>
冰碴儿飞到了我的鼻子上  </p>

<p>Black are my steps on silver sod;<br>
厚重的银色草皮上留下了我黑色的脚印<br>
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;<br>
我呼出的气形成厚重的雾汽<br>
And tree and house, and hill and lake,<br>
那树和那房子，那山和那湖<br>
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.<br>
像是撒满糖粉的婚礼蛋糕  </p>

<p>Now, I'd like to tell you about the origins of 天, and my theory about aliens in Ancient China, but I'll save that for another time .....</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-17T03:27:04.163Z
Quote:- "...my theory about aliens in Ancient China, but I'll save that for another time...." Don't wait too long because 岁月不等人
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-17T21:58:12.720Z
是的，但是外星人不是人！You are the poet, please improve the translation! Should I write '沐浴和穿衣' or '沐浴和穿衣服‘？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-18T03:05:53.697Z
Of course 沐浴和穿衣, because the 服 is, poetically speaking, redundant and only serves to "cloud up" the verse. In any case poems, unlike prose. are best written in short, succinct verses with a visceral punch to jolt the reader's sensitivity. So, without competing with your translation, may I humbly be so bold as to offer my poetic translation of the whole sentence, (as doing the whole poem would severely tax my aged brain too much) Here goes, "By the cold candle, bathe and dress" --- 冷落烛光下, 浴完则穿衣. (冷落 because it means "cold and indifferent", i.e indifferent to the bather's nakedness) Thank you.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-18T03:34:44.923Z
BTW, IMHO, 沐浴和穿衣 gives the idea of bathing and dressing at the same time because of 和 which means "and" or "with" The use of "and" in English is, I believe, quite different from Chinese. I am sure you are aware of that.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-18T03:43:08.490Z
"The use of "and" in English is, I believe, quite different from Chinese" I meant quite different in some incidences, i.e. when it joins actions separated in time.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-18T07:51:17.473Z
I just thought of  沐浴穿衣服 as a cheap and nasty rhyme! You know the film "Sleeping Dictionary" with Bob Hoskins? Well, I asked mine and she says, no, that does not imply 沐浴 and 穿衣 at the same time. Also, forgive me, but she does not care for  冷落烛光. But again, I like how you are thinking! I found 冷落烛光 here：https://www.itangyuan.com/book/chapter/6775263/16473917.html
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-18T10:09:52.440Z
Well, we live and learn. Thanks for the reply and the feminine feedback. It was fun though. Though I am not a "poet" of any significant talent, (in any language), I've been into poetry since 1970 when I entered college, (yes, I am that old)  后会有期!!!!
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-16T22:52:54.307Z
2020-06-16T22:52:54.307Z
Pedroski
<p>In short, for disambiguation, at least oral disambiguation.</p>
<hr />
<p>Most of the words in Old Chinese are monosyllabic words. However, when it comes to oral speech, it is too ambiguous to use. As time went by, we developed Modern Chinese, which encourages the usage of disyllabic words, for oral disambiguation.</p>
<p>In oral speech, the monosyllabic word &quot;dōng&quot; can mean 冬 (winter), 东 (east), 鸫 (thrush), 氡 (radon), etc, so it is too ambiguous to pronounce &quot;dōng&quot; only. Therefore, in Modern Chinese, we use the disyllabic word &quot;dōng tiān&quot;, written as 冬天, literally &quot;winter days&quot;, for disambiguation. You can also use the disyllabic word &quot;dōng jì&quot;, written as 冬季, literally &quot;winter season&quot;, for oral disambiguation.</p>
<p>Similarly, there is a monosyllabic word 锋 (fēng) and a monosyllabic word 利 (lì) in Old Chinese. Both of them means &quot;sharp&quot;. However, in oral speech, &quot;fēng&quot; can mean 锋 (sharp), 风 (wind), 疯 (mad, crazy), etc, and &quot;lì&quot; can mean 利 (sharp, benefit), 力 (force), 粒 (grain), etc, so it is too ambiguous to pronounce either &quot;fēng&quot; or &quot;lì&quot;. Therefore, in Modern Chinese, we use the disyllabic word 锋利 (fēng lì) for &quot;sharp&quot;, for oral disambiguation.</p>
<hr />
<p>Can I just write monosyllabic words but speak disyllabic words? No. They look too archaic. Nowadays, native Chinese speakers are familiar with Modern Chinese, but unfamiliar with Old Chinese. If you write monosyllabic words, native Chinese speakers may feel like &quot;have you just time-travelled from thousands of years ago?&quot; Actually, it is almost similar to the feeling if you speak Classical Latin in Europe.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-17T02:13:16.207Z
2020-11-29T10:11:17.050Z
2020-11-29T10:11:17.050Z
Victor
<p>If 冬 in itself means winter, do adding 天 Impact the meaning, or perhaps refer to winter time instead of the season itself? Or is it because 冬 is monosyllabic and 冬天 has two syllables?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-14T10:50:00.727Z
Does this thread help: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/31011/4136? It might not look related on first glace but you'll also notice this phenomenon where words are made up of two characters that practically mean the same thing.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-14T11:29:31.320Z
In English, "Winter" is both an adjective and a noun. In standard situations in Modern Chinese, "冬" should be treated as an adjective only. That is, saying a single "冬" is like saying a single "heavy", "noisy", "yellow", etc; without a noun it's not really grammatical.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-14T14:29:42.187Z
Simple answer is Chinese has lots of homonyms, so in order for others to understand what was "spoken", compounding is used to express the idea without ambiguity. It's readable without ambiguity with only 1 character of course, but written Standard Chinese usually mirrors speech. I answered here listing other ways of Chinese word formation using multiple characters: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/37320/do-you-guys-usually-add-%e5%ad%90-for-objects-with-one-syllable/37322#37322
Daniel Cheung
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-29T22:57:50.687Z
@dROOOze what about 暖冬、寒冬、初冬? Surely 冬 here are not adjective.
joehua
<translation><grammar><character-components>
If 冬 in itself means winter, why add 天?
# If 冬 in itself means winter, why add 天?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-14)

If 冬 in itself means winter, do adding 天 Impact the meaning, or perhaps refer to winter time instead of the season itself? Or is it because 冬 is monosyllabic and 冬天 has two syllables?

**Tags:** translation, grammar, character-components

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does this thread help: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/31011/4136? It might not look related on first glace but you'll also notice this phenomenon where words are made up of two characters that practically mean the same thing.  
> **username_2**: In English, "Winter" is both an adjective and a noun. In standard situations in Modern Chinese, "冬" should be treated as an adjective only. That is, saying a single "冬" is like saying a single "heavy", "noisy", "yellow", etc; without a noun it's not really grammatical.  
> **username_3**: Simple answer is Chinese has lots of homonyms, so in order for others to understand what was "spoken", compounding is used to express the idea without ambiguity. It's readable without ambiguity with only 1 character of course, but written Standard Chinese usually mirrors speech. I answered here listing other ways of Chinese word formation using multiple characters: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/37320/do-you-guys-usually-add-%e5%ad%90-for-objects-with-one-syllable/37322#37322  
> **username_4**: @username_2 what about 暖冬、寒冬、初冬? Surely 冬 here are not adjective.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-06-17. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

In short, for disambiguation, at least oral disambiguation.

---

Most of the words in Old Chinese are monosyllabic words. However, when it comes to oral speech, it is too ambiguous to use. As time went by, we developed Modern Chinese, which encourages the usage of disyllabic words, for oral disambiguation.

In oral speech, the monosyllabic word "dōng" can mean 冬 (winter), 东 (east), 鸫 (thrush), 氡 (radon), etc, so it is too ambiguous to pronounce "dōng" only. Therefore, in Modern Chinese, we use the disyllabic word "dōng tiān", written as 冬天, literally "winter days", for disambiguation. You can also use the disyllabic word "dōng jì", written as 冬季, literally "winter season", for oral disambiguation.

Similarly, there is a monosyllabic word 锋 (fēng) and a monosyllabic word 利 (lì) in Old Chinese. Both of them means "sharp". However, in oral speech, "fēng" can mean 锋 (sharp), 风 (wind), 疯 (mad, crazy), etc, and "lì" can mean 利 (sharp, benefit), 力 (force), 粒 (grain), etc, so it is too ambiguous to pronounce either "fēng" or "lì". Therefore, in Modern Chinese, we use the disyllabic word 锋利 (fēng lì) for "sharp", for oral disambiguation.

---

Can I just write monosyllabic words but speak disyllabic words? No. They look too archaic. Nowadays, native Chinese speakers are familiar with Modern Chinese, but unfamiliar with Old Chinese. If you write monosyllabic words, native Chinese speakers may feel like "have you just time-travelled from thousands of years ago?" Actually, it is almost similar to the feeling if you speak Classical Latin in Europe.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-06-16. Score: 0

You can use: 冬、冬季、冬天 even 萧条期 can mean winter: a bleak, desolate period. Why not have more than 1 word with the same meaning? That makes writing more interesting.

Winter is a word whose origin is unknown. It may be related to an old word for white, but that is just a guess.

In English you may say winter, or wintertime. As Drooze mentioned, maybe 冬 surfaces more, but not solely, as an adjective.

We might say: a winter coat

but I would not say: a wintertime coat

Robert Louis Stevenson called winter Winter-Time, nowadays we write wintertime.

Which brings me to his poem:

Winter-Time Robert Louis Stevenson - 1850-1894

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,  
冬日的清早太阳还没露头  
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;  
它是一条冻僵，而又充满热量的瞌睡虫；  
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,  
眨巴了一、两个钟头的眼睛，  
A blood-red orange, sets again.  
又像一颗血红的橙子再落下去。

Before the stars have left the skies,  
我在星星从空中消失之前，  
At morning in the dark I rise;  
的漆黑清晨升起  
And shivering in my nakedness,  
全身赤裸的我止不住地颤抖；  
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.  
只能借着微弱的烛光来沐浴和穿衣

Close by the jolly fire I sit  
我靠近让人愉快的火堆旁坐下  
To warm my frozen bones a bit;  
以此来让我冰冷的身子暖和一点；  
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore  
或者开着由驯鹿拉的雪橇，去探索  
The colder countries round the door.  
门外更寒冷的地方。

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap  
我出门时，我的保姆把我裹进  
Me in my comforter and cap;  
围巾和帽子里  
The cold wind burns my face, and blows  
寒冷的风将我的脸颊吹得通红  
Its frosty pepper up my nose.  
冰碴儿飞到了我的鼻子上

Black are my steps on silver sod;  
厚重的银色草皮上留下了我黑色的脚印  
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;  
我呼出的气形成厚重的雾汽  
And tree and house, and hill and lake,  
那树和那房子，那山和那湖  
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.  
像是撒满糖粉的婚礼蛋糕

Now, I'd like to tell you about the origins of 天, and my theory about aliens in Ancient China, but I'll save that for another time .....

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Quote:- "...my theory about aliens in Ancient China, but I'll save that for another time...." Don't wait too long because 岁月不等人  
> **username_5**: 是的，但是外星人不是人！You are the poet, please improve the translation! Should I write '沐浴和穿衣' or '沐浴和穿衣服‘？  
> **username_6**: Of course 沐浴和穿衣, because the 服 is, poetically speaking, redundant and only serves to "cloud up" the verse. In any case poems, unlike prose. are best written in short, succinct verses with a visceral punch to jolt the reader's sensitivity. So, without competing with your translation, may I humbly be so bold as to offer my poetic translation of the whole sentence, (as doing the whole poem would severely tax my aged brain too much) Here goes, "By the cold candle, bathe and dress" --- 冷落烛光下, 浴完则穿衣. (冷落 because it means "cold and indifferent", i.e indifferent to the bather's nakedness) Thank you.  
> **username_6**: BTW, IMHO, 沐浴和穿衣 gives the idea of bathing and dressing at the same time because of 和 which means "and" or "with" The use of "and" in English is, I believe, quite different from Chinese. I am sure you are aware of that.  
> **username_6**: "The use of "and" in English is, I believe, quite different from Chinese" I meant quite different in some incidences, i.e. when it joins actions separated in time.  
> **username_5**: I just thought of  沐浴穿衣服 as a cheap and nasty rhyme! You know the film "Sleeping Dictionary" with Bob Hoskins? Well, I asked mine and she says, no, that does not imply 沐浴 and 穿衣 at the same time. Also, forgive me, but she does not care for  冷落烛光. But again, I like how you are thinking! I found 冷落烛光 here：https://www.itangyuan.com/book/chapter/6775263/16473917.html  
> **username_6**: Well, we live and learn. Thanks for the reply and the feminine feedback. It was fun though. Though I am not a "poet" of any significant talent, (in any language), I've been into poetry since 1970 when I entered college, (yes, I am that old)  后会有期!!!!  

---

