和弦 (hé xián) — chord (music) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

chord (music)

Measure word · 个

Examples

和弦。
Zhè shǒu gē de hé xián hěn hǎo tīng.
The chords of this song sound great.
和弦。
Tā zhèng zài xué tán jí tā shàng de gè zhǒng hé xián.
He is learning to play various chords on the guitar.
和弦。
Lǎo shī jiào wǒ men rú hé zhuǎn huàn hé xián.
The teacher taught us how to change chords.

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.

和héharmony

和 (harmony) and 弦 (string) combine to mean a musical chord.

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.

禾口和

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

禾hé和hé

Same sound today

和 pairs 禾, which gives the sound, with 口 (mouth), the meaning part; the reference connects this shape to harmony.

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

弓玄弦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

玄

玄xuán弦xián

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

弦 uses 弓 (bow) to show what it is about and 玄 to show how it is pronounced.

Appears in

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