歌后 (gē hòu) — top female singer, queen of song (title for a very accomplished female vocalist)

Definition

歌后 literally means 'song queen' — a title of honor for a top female singer, modeled on 歌王 (the male equivalent, 'king of song'). It is not a generic term for 'singer', but an earned honorific for the most accomplished vocalist.

noun
top female singerqueen of song (title for a very accomplished female vocalist)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 歌后。
    Zhè wèi gē hòu de yǎn chàng huì mén piào zǒng shì hěn kuài mài wán.
    This top female singer's concert tickets always sell out very quickly.
  • 歌后。
    Tā bèi chēng wéi huá yǔ yuè tán de gē hòu.
    She is called the queen of song in the Chinese music scene.
  • 歌后。
    Zhè wèi gē hòu chū dào yǐ jīng sān shí nián le.
    This top female singer has been in the music industry for thirty years.

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.

歌gēsong
后hòuqueen

歌 means song and 后 means queen, giving the idea of a queen of song.

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
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.

Open 歌 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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