灯 (dēng): lamp; light

Measure Word

一盏灯 zhǎn

Meanings

1 lamp; light
2 lantern

Characters

灯

dēng

lamp; light

Fire radical 火 + 丁 (nail/small) — a small fire, i.e. a lamp.

Examples

请开灯。

Qǐng kāi dēng.

Please turn on the light.

灯关了。

Dēng guān le.

The light is off.

街上的灯很漂亮。

Jiē shàng de dēng hěn piàoliang.

The lights on the street are very pretty.

Tips

culture

灯笼 (lantern) is a symbol of Chinese culture. The 元宵节 (Lantern Festival) on the 15th day of the first lunar month features beautiful lantern displays.

usage

Common compounds: 红绿灯 (traffic light), 台灯 (desk lamp), 路灯 (street light), 灯笼 (lantern).

Components

radical

火 huǒ

fire; flame

Left fire radical (Kangxi #86) in its full 4-stroke form — the indexing radical, picturing rising flames. Anchors the meaning: 灯 is any light source, originally an oil flame or candle, now extended to electric lamps. Same radical groups 烧 (burn), 炒 (stir-fry), 烟 (smoke), 焰 (flame).

phonetic

丁 dīng

nail; (man) fourth

Right phonetic 丁 (dīng) — supplies the sound, shifting to dēng. The simplified 灯 replaced traditional 燈's complex 登 phonetic with the much simpler 丁 to ease writing. Standalone 丁 means 'nail' or 'man' (sturdy as a nail) — a great phonetic substitute for any dīng/dēng/tīng reading.