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短篇小说 (duǎn piān xiǎo shuō) — short story

Definition

noun
short story
Measure word · 篇

Examples

  • 短篇小说。
    Tā zuì jìn xiě le yì piān duǎn piān xiǎo shuō.
    He recently wrote a short story.
  • 短篇小说。
    Zhè běn duǎn piān xiǎo shuō jí hěn shòu huān yíng.
    This collection of short stories is very popular.
  • 短篇小说。
    Lǎo shī jiàn yì wǒ men dú jǐ piān lǔ xùn de duǎn piān xiǎo shuō.
    The teacher suggested we read a few of Lu Xun's short stories.

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.

短篇
短duǎnshort篇piānpiece
偏正Modifier + head
小说
小xiǎosmall说shuōtalk
偏正Modifier + head

短篇小说 combines 短篇 short pieces with 小说 fiction, yielding a brief fictional work.

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
矢矢shǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu短duǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

短 is built from 矢 and 豆. 豆 is used for its sound, while 矢 is the component linked to the meaning.

Open 短 →

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
竹竹zhú
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn篇piān
Same sound today

篇 combines 竹 with 扁: 竹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 扁 is the part used for the sound.

Open 篇 →

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →
Appears in
Literature & Poetry

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