歌词 (gē cí) — (noun) lyrics (of a song) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

歌词 means specifically the words/lyrics of a song, while 词 by itself is a much broader word meaning 'word' or 'speech' and only sometimes means 'lyrics'. 歌曲 is the song itself, not its words.

noun

lyrics (of a song)

Measure word · 首

Examples

歌词。
Wǒ xǐ huan zhè shǒu gē de gē cí.
I like the lyrics of this song.
歌词？
Nǐ néng gào sù wǒ zhè xiē gē cí de yì si ma?
Can you tell me the meaning of these lyrics?
，歌词。
Tā yì biān tīng yīn yuè, yì biān kàn gē cí.
He listens to music and reads the lyrics at the same time.

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” specifies a song and “词” gives words, together meaning the words of a 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.

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.

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

言司詞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

司

司sī詞cí(r)

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

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Appears in

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