银幕
yín mù · HSK 7
movie screen
🎬🎦 银 silver + 幕 curtain = the silver screen, a movie screen
银 means silver and 幕 means curtain or screen. Together they name the cinema screen, the same idea English carries in the phrase the silver screen. 幕 also shows up in 屏幕 (display screen).
银 — metal radical 钅 + 艮 (phonetic)
银 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 钅 (the metal radical, from 金) signals the meaning category—metals. The right side 艮 supplies the sound. Originally referring to silver as a metal, it later extended to mean money, currency, and bank-related terms.
幕 — grass 艹 + sun 日 + big 大 + cloth 巾
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 莫 (mù, sunset/dusk) provides the sound and the idea of evening, while 巾 (cloth) gives the meaning. It depicted a cloth hung at dusk, hence 'curtain' or 'tent,' later extended to 'act/scene' in a play.