才气 (cái qì) — literary talent | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

才气 refers to creative, literary talent — the intangible spark of ability, more about innate brilliance than trained skill (like 才华).

noun

literary talent

Examples

才气。
Tā shì yí wèi hěn yǒu cái qì de zuò jiā.
He is a writer of great literary talent.
才气。
Tā de cái qì zài bǐ sài zhōng dé dào le dà jiā de rèn kě.
Her literary talent was recognized by everyone in the competition.
才气。
Nián qīng shí jiù zhǎn xiàn chū le fēi fán de cái qì.
He showed extraordinary literary talent even when young.

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.

气qìspirit

The character for talent combines with the character for spirit to denote literary ability.

Characters in this word

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

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

气米氣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

气qì氣qì

Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

Literature & Poetry

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