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对白 (duì bái) — dialogue (in a movie or play)

Definition

对白 is the written lines spoken by actors in a film, play, or script — a scriptwriting term, not everyday speech. For ordinary conversation, use 对话.

noun
dialogue (in a movie or play)
Measure word · 段

Examples

  • 对白。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de duì bái xiě dé fēi cháng hǎo.
    The dialogue in this movie is very well written.
  • 对白。
    Dǎo yǎn huā le hěn duō shí jiān xiū gǎi duì bái.
    The director spent a lot of time revising the dialogue.
  • 对白？
    Nǐ duì zhè duàn duì bái yǒu shén me kàn fǎ?
    What do you think of this piece of dialogue?

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.

对duìmutual
白báispeech

「对」 suggests mutual exchange, and 「白」 refers to spoken words, together giving dialogue.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Film & Theater

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