腔调 (qiāng diào) — tune, melody; accent, tone of voice

Definition

Literally 'tune + tone,' this noun covers both musical melody and the way someone speaks — their accent or attitude-laden tone of voice.

noun

tunemelodyaccenttone of voice

腔调。
Zhè shǒu mín gē de qiāng diào fēi cháng yōu měi.
The tune of this folk song is very beautiful.
腔调。
Tā shuō huà dài zhe míng xiǎn de nán fāng qiāng diào.
He speaks with a distinct southern accent.
腔调，。
Tīng tā de qiāng diào, hǎo xiàng bú tài gāo xìng.
Judging by his tone of voice, he doesn't seem very happy.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

腔 and 调 both concern voice or tune, together meaning accent or melody.

Characters in this word

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

腔 is made from 肉 (meat; flesh) plus 空 (empty; hollow), where 空 supplies the sound.

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

言周調

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

周

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Appears in