乐团 (yuè tuán) — orchestra, philharmonic society

Definition

noun

orchestraphilharmonic society

Measure word · 个

乐团。
Zhè ge yuè tuán hěn yǒu míng.
This orchestra is very famous.
乐团。
Wǒ zuó tiān qù tīng le yuè tuán de yǎn chū.
I went to listen to the orchestra's performance yesterday.
乐团。
Tā zài yí gè yuè tuán lǐ gōng zuò.
She works in an orchestra.

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.

乐 means music and 团 means group, so the word denotes a music group or orchestra.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 團; 团 is its simplified writing.

囗專團

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéi

Sound part声符shēngfú

專

專zhuān團tuán

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 團 combines 囗 as a meaning part with 專 as a sound part; the story is about 團, not about 团.

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