名作 (míng zuò) — masterpiece; great and famous work (of literature, art, music, etc.)

Definition

noun
masterpiecegreat and famous work (of literature, art, music, etc.)
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 名作。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō shì lǔ xùn de míng zuò.
    This novel is a masterpiece by Lu Xun.
  • 名作。
    Zhè fú huà shì tā zuì zhù míng de míng zuò.
    This painting is his most famous masterpiece.
  • 名作。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng bèi gōng rèn wèi èr shí shì jì de míng zuò.
    This film is recognized as a masterpiece of the 20th century.

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.

名míngfamous
作zuòwork

名 (famous) describes 作 (work), giving a celebrated work.

Characters in this word

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

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

Open 名 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

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