yīn yǐng
shadow; shade
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他在树荫下乘凉。
tā zài shùyīn xià chéngliáng.
He is cooling off in the shade of the tree.
她的脸上有一丝阴影。
tā de liǎnshang yǒuyī sī yīnyǐng.
There is a trace of shadow on her face.
这件事给他带来了很大的阴影。
zhè jiàn shì gěi tā dài lái le hěn dà de yīnyǐng.
This incident brought him a great shadow.
光明 (guāngmíng)
light
阳光 (yángguāng)
sunshine
The Chinese word 阴影 (yīnyǐng) is composed of two characters: 阴 (yīn) and 影 (yǐng). The character 阴 originally meant "the shady side of a hill" or "the north side of a mountain", and later extended to mean "dark", "cloudy", or "gloomy". The character 影 originally meant "a reflection of light" or "a shadow", and later extended to mean "an image" or "a silhouette". When combined, the two characters 阴 and 影 form the word 阴影, which literally means "dark shadow" or "shade". In modern Chinese, 阴影 is used to refer to a shadow or a dark area, both literally and figuratively. For example, it can be used to describe the shadow of a person or an object, or it can be used to describe a dark period in history or a person's life.
