历史剧 (lì shǐ jù) — historical drama, historical play

Definition

noun
historical dramahistorical play
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 历史剧。
    Zhè bù lì shǐ jù jiǎng shù le táng cháo de gù shi.
    This historical drama tells the story of the Tang Dynasty.
  • 历史剧。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de lì shǐ jù biān jù.
    He is a famous historical drama screenwriter.
  • 历史剧。
    Guān zhòng duì zhè bù lì shǐ jù de píng jià hěn gāo.
    The audience's evaluation of this historical drama is very high.

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.

历史history
历lìpast史shǐhistory
联合Side by side
剧jùplay

历史 names past events and 剧 names a play, together a play about history.

Characters in this word

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 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
厤
厤lì歷lì
Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Open 历 →

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

The old drawing showed someone holding a flag-like or writing tool, indicating the act of recording events; the exact inner shape is unclear.

Open 史 →

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 劇; 剧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
豦
豦jù劇jù
Same sound today

The traditional form 劇 pairs 豦, which gives the sound, with 刀, a knife; the simplified 剧 is a later shorthand.

Open 剧 →

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