五音 (wǔ yīn) — the five notes of the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale (gōng, shāng, jué, zhǐ, yǔ); the five categories of initial consonants in traditional Chinese phonetics (throat, tooth, tongue, teeth, lip)

Definition

A traditional term with two senses: the five notes of the Chinese pentatonic scale (gōng, shāng, jué, zhǐ, yǔ), and the five categories of initial consonants in traditional Chinese phonetics.

noun
the five notes of the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale (gōng, shāng, jué, zhǐ, yǔ)the five categories of initial consonants in traditional Chinese phonetics (throat, tooth, tongue, teeth, lip)

Examples

  • 五音。
    Zhōng guó gǔ dài yīn yuè yǐ wǔ yīn wèi jī chǔ.
    Ancient Chinese music is based on the five notes.
  • 五音。
    Chuán tǒng yīn yùn xué jiāng shēng mǔ fēn wéi wǔ yīn.
    Traditional phonology classifies initials into five categories.
  • 五音。
    Xué xí gǔ qín yào xiān liǎo jiě wǔ yīn.
    To learn the guqin, you first need to understand the five notes.

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.

五wǔfive
音yīnsound; note

五 counts the set of 音, giving the five notes or phonetic classes.

Characters in this word

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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 →

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