女低音 (nǚ dī yīn) — alto; contralto (the lowest female singing voice)

Definition

Literally 'female low voice', the lowest female singing range. Set against 男低音 (male bass), it is the female equivalent; alto and contralto are the usual English labels.

noun
altocontralto (the lowest female singing voice)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 女低音。
    Tā zài hé chàng tuán lǐ chàng nǚ dī yīn.
    She sings alto in the choir.
  • 女低音。
    Zhè shǒu gē qǔ de nǚ dī yīn bù fen hěn yǒu nán dù.
    The alto part of this song is quite challenging.
  • 女低音。
    Wǒ men xū yào yí wèi nǚ dī yīn gē shǒu lái lǐng chàng.
    We need an alto singer to lead the singing.

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.

女nǚfemale
低音low sound
低dīlow音yīnsound
偏正Modifier + head

女 refers to female, while 低音 refers to a low sound.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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rénman, person
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī低dī
Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

Open 低 →

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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