奇谈 (qí tán) — strange story; fantastic tale

Definition

noun
strange storyfantastic tale
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 奇谈，。
    Tā jiǎng le yí gè qí tán, méi rén xiāng xìn.
    He told a strange story that nobody believed.
  • 奇谈。
    Zhè běn shū lǐ yǒu hěn duō gǔ dài qí tán.
    This book contains many ancient strange tales.
  • 奇谈，。
    Nà zhǐ shì qí tán, bié dàng zhēn.
    That's just a fantastic tale; don't take it seriously.

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.

奇qístrange
谈tántalk

奇 means strange and 谈 means talk, so the word denotes strange stories.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dàbig; great
Sound part声符shēngfú
可
可kě奇
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奇 pairs 大 (big; great) with 可, a sound part.

Open 奇 →

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 談; 谈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán談tán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 谈, the traditional form 談 pairs 言 (speech) with 炎 (yán) as the sound part.

Open 谈 →

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