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开播 (kāi bō) — to start broadcasting (of a TV series, program, or online show)

Definition

A verb-of-motion built from 开 ('start') + 播 ('broadcast'), used for the moment a TV program, series, or live stream begins airing — not for ongoing broadcasting itself (use 播放 for that).

verb
to start broadcasting (of a TV series, program, or online show)

Examples

  • 开播。
    Nà bù xīn jù jīn wǎn bā diǎn kāi bō.
    That new drama starts broadcasting at 8 PM tonight.
  • ，。
    Zhè bù diàn shì jù kāi le bō zhī hòu, shōu shì lǜ shàng shēng hěn kuài.
    After this TV series started broadcasting, the ratings rose quickly.
  • 开播，。
    Zhí bō yǐ jīng kāi bō le, nǐ kuài jìn lái ba.
    The live stream has already started broadcasting; come in quick.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāibegin
播bōbroadcast

开 (begin) and 播 (broadcast) combine to mean starting a broadcast.

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 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
番
番fān播bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

播 is built from 扌, a hand radical, plus 番 as a sound part. The hand part marks it as something done by hand.

Open 播 →
Appears in
Media & News

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