旁白 (páng bái) — (in a play, film, etc.) an aside; voiceover; na… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

(in a play, film, etc.) an asidevoiceovernarration

Examples

，旁白。
Zài huà jù lǐ, páng bái shì jué sè zhí jiē duì guān zhòng shuō de huà.
In a play, an aside is a line spoken directly to the audience by a character.
旁白。
Zhè bù diàn yǐng de páng bái shì yóu yí wèi zhù míng yǎn yuán lù zhì de.
The voiceover for this film was recorded by a famous actor.
旁白。
Dǎo yǎn zài jù běn zhōng jiā le yí duàn páng bái lái jiě shì zhǔ jué de xīn lǐ huó dòng.
The director added a narration segment in the script to explain the protagonist's inner thoughts.

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.

白báispoken line

“旁” (beside) and “白” (spoken line) combine to mean a line spoken from the side.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng旁páng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 旁, 方 is the lower part and gives the sound. The upper part is unclear and may have been part of the meaning.

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.

Appears in

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