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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

翻天覆地

/fän⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ fu⁵¹⁻⁵³ ti⁵¹/
to undergo an earth-shattering change
  • HSK 10
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Etymology graph

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  • meaning component
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Origin

The phrase 翻天覆地 is composed of four characters. The character 翻, meaning to fly, soar, flutter, or circle in the air, contains the semantic component 羽 (feather; plume) and the phonetic component 番 (to do in turns; to take turns; to repeat). The character 番 further consists of the semantic component 田 (farmland) and the phonetic component 釆 (to distinguish; to discriminate).

天, meaning sky, heavens, or celestial, uses the semantic component 大 (of great size; big; large; huge) and the phonetic component 丁 (the fourth of the ten heavenly stems). 覆, meaning to cover, combines the semantic component 襾 (cover) with the phonetic component 復 (to return). The character 復 includes the semantic component 彳 (to walk slowly) and the phonetic component 复 (to go back). Finally, 地, meaning earth, is formed with the semantic component 土 (earth; soil) and the phonetic component 也.

According to the MOE Dictionary, the phrase serves as a metaphor for a huge change.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese翻 “to fly; to circle in the air; to soar; to flutter”
    • soundChinese番 “to do in turns; to take turns; to repeat”
      • soundChinese釆 “to distinguish; to discriminate”
      • meaningChinese田 “farmland (Classifier: 塊／块 m c)”
    • meaningChinese羽 “feather; plume”
  • characterChinese天 “sky; heavens; heavenly; celestial”
    • meaningChinese大 “of great size; big; large; huge”
    • soundChinese丁 “the fourth of the ten heavenly stems”
  • characterChinese覆 “to cover”
    • meaningChinese襾 “cover”
    • soundChinese復 “to return”
      • meaningChinese彳 “to walk slowly”
      • soundChinese复 “to go back”
  • characterChinese地 “earth”
    • meaningChinese土 “earth; soil”
    • soundChinese也 “Particle used at the end of copular constructions involving a nominal predicate; to be (although no…”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to undergo an earth-shattering change

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 比喻變化的巨大。 例：接連幾年的戰亂，讓原本富庶的故鄉有了翻天覆地的改變。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0