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舞曲 (wǔ qǔ) — dance music (genre or piece)

Definition

noun
dance music (genre or piece)
Measure word · 首

Examples

  • 舞曲。
    Tā xǐ huan zài wǎn shàng tīng wǔ qǔ.
    He likes to listen to dance music at night.
  • 舞曲。
    Zhè shǒu wǔ qǔ de jié zòu fēi cháng kuài.
    The rhythm of this dance music is very fast.
  • 舞曲。
    Tā gēn zhe wǔ qǔ tiào le qǐ lái.
    She started dancing to the dance music.

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.

舞wǔdance
曲qǔtune

Dance and tune combine to mean music meant for dancing.

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
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 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

曲 is drawn as a bent object, matching the meaning 'bend'.

Open 曲 →
Appears in
Dance & PerformanceMusic

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