Yuán qióng de wūdǐng ràng dàtīng xiǎnde géwài zhuāngyán.
The domed roof gave the hall a particularly solemn feel.
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Highly literary on its own. In modern Chinese you'll mostly see it in compounds: 苍穹 (cāngqióng, vault of heaven), 穹顶 (qióngdǐng, dome), 穹窿 (qiónglóng, vault/dome shape).
memory
穴 (cave) on top of 弓 (bow) - a bow-shaped cave overhead, i.e. the dome of the sky.
Top cave radical, picturing a dwelling pit dug into a hillside with the cap of a roof above. Indexes 穹 in the hollow-space family (空 empty, 窗 window, 究 to investigate). In 穹 it depicts the great vault of the sky as if it were a vast cave overhead - the dome enclosing the world.
Bottom 弓 - a strung bow, supplying the sound gōng to qióng through a regular palatal shift. Pulls a clear semantic load too: the curve of a drawn bow mirrors the curve of the sky's dome. Together with 穴 above, the picture is a great curved cavern overhead - the literary 'vault of heaven.'
