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主音 (zhǔ yīn) — (phonetics) vowel; (music) keynote; tonic

Definition

A technical term with two senses: in phonetics/linguistics, the main vowel sound of a syllable (paired with 辅音 'consonant'); in music, the tonic or keynote of a scale.

noun
(phonetics) vowel(music) keynotetonic

Examples

  • ，主音。
    Hàn yǔ pīn yīn zhōng, měi gè yīn jié dōu bì xū yǒu yí gè zhǔ yīn.
    In Hanyu Pinyin, each syllable must have a vowel.
  • C主音。
    Zhè shǒu qǔ zi yǐ C dà diào de zhǔ yīn kāi shǐ.
    This piece begins with the tonic of C major.
  • ，主音。
    Zài yǔ yán xué zhōng, zhǔ yīn yǔ fǔ yīn xiāng duì.
    In linguistics, vowels are contrasted with consonants.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

主zhǔmain
音yīnsound

“主” main and “音” sound give the principal tone or vowel.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →
Appears in
LanguageMusic

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