歌舞剧 (gē wǔ jù) — musical, song and dance drama

Definition

noun

musicalsong and dance drama

Measure word · 部

Examples

歌舞剧。
Zhè bù gē wǔ jù fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
This musical is absolutely wonderful.
歌舞剧。
Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de gē wǔ jù yǎn yuán.
She is a famous musical actress.
歌舞剧。
Zuó wǎn wǒ men qù kàn le yì chǎng gē wǔ jù.
Last night we went to see a musical.

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.

歌舞song and dance

歌gēsong舞wǔdance

联合Coordinate

剧jùdrama

The 歌 and 舞 parts name song and dance, while 剧 marks the dramatic work they describe.

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.

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.

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

舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction

Sound part声符shēngfú

無

無wú舞wǔ

Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →

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 劇; 剧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刀刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

豦

豦jù劇jù

Same sound today

The traditional form 劇 pairs 豦, which gives the sound, with 刀, a knife; the simplified 剧 is a later shorthand.

Open 剧 →

Appears in