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歌喉 (gē hóu) — singer's voice, singing voice

Definition

noun
singer's voicesinging voice

Examples

  • 歌喉。
    Tā de gē hóu fēi cháng dòng rén.
    Her singing voice is very moving.
  • 歌喉。
    Tā zài bǐ sài zhōng zhǎn shì le chū sè de gē hóu.
    He displayed his excellent singing voice in the competition.
  • 歌喉。
    Zhè wèi gē shǒu yōng yǒu yí fù hǎo gē hóu.
    This singer has a good singing voice.

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gēsinging
喉hóuthroat

歌 names singing, and 喉 names the throat, so together they mean a singing voice.

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 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
侯
侯hóu喉hóu
Same sound today

喉 combines 口, a mouth, with 侯, which gives its sound.

Open 喉 →
Appears in
Body PartsMusic

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