恋歌 (liàn gē) — love song | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

love song

Measure word · 首

Examples

恋歌。
Tā chàng le yì shǒu dòng rén de liàn gē.
He sang a touching love song.
恋歌。
Zhè wèi zuò qǔ jiā biān xiě le xǔ duō jīng diǎn de liàn gē.
This composer wrote many classic love songs.
恋歌，。
Měi dāng wǒ tīng dào zhè shǒu liàn gē, jiù huì xiǎng qǐ tā.
Whenever I hear this love song, I think of her.

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.

The idea of love in 恋 and the idea of song in 歌 combine into a song about love.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戀; 恋 is its simplified writing.

䜌心戀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

䜌

䜌䜌戀liàn

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

The traditional form 戀 pairs 心 (heart) with 䜌 as a sound part; 恋 is a later simplified form.

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

哥欠歌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

欠欠qiànblow

Sound part声符shēngfú

哥

哥gē歌gē

Same sound today

The shape 歌 uses 哥 for the sound and 欠, meaning blow. It came from a form of 哥 used for singing.

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