凉 (liáng): cool

Meanings

1 cool
2 cold (mildly; less intense than 冷)

Characters

凉

liáng

cool; cold

Examples

HSK 1

今天天气很凉。

Jīntiān tiānqì hěn liáng.

The weather is cool today.

HSK 1

水太凉了。

Shuǐ tài liáng le.

The water is too cold.

HSK 1

晚上会凉一些。

Wǎnshang huì liáng yīxiē.

It will be cooler in the evening.

Tips

usage

凉 covers all the everyday 'cool / cold' senses. It's milder than 冷 - 凉水 is room-temperature or below-room-temperature water; 冷水 is genuinely cold. For a pleasant coolness, use 凉快 (refreshing). Showpiece compounds: 凉茶 (cooling herbal tea), 凉鞋 (sandals), 凉爽 (cool and refreshing).

register

A second reading 凉 (fourth tone) is a causative verb - 'to let something cool down.' Bound to fixed structures like 把汤凉一凉 (let the soup cool a bit). Default to liáng for adjective 'cool/cold' senses; use liàng only when the verb is causing something else to cool.

Components

radical

冫 bīng

ice (left-side radical)

Left ice radical (Kangxi #15) - two strokes, the compressed two-dot form of 冰. Carries the meaning: anything cold, frozen, or chilly. Anchors 凉 with 冰 (ice), 冷 (cold), 冻 (freeze), 凝 (congeal) - the cold-element family. Two dots is the dryness-cold (frost), three dots (氵) is liquid-cold (water).

phonetic

京 jīng

capital; tall building (phonetic)

Right phonetic 京 - supplies the sound (jīng drifted to liáng, a regular nasal-onset shift in this group; cf. 谅, 晾, 掠). Originally a tall watchtower or palace pictograph, hence 'capital city.' Pure sound-borrow in 凉. Same phonetic in 谅 (forgive), 晾 (air-dry - note semantic link to coolness).