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选段 (xuǎn duàn) — selected passage, excerpt (from a text, speech, or performance)

Definition

noun
selected passageexcerpt (from a text, speech, or performance)
Measure word · 段

Examples

  • 选段。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men dú kè wén zhōng de jǐ gè xuǎn duàn.
    The teacher asked us to read several selected passages from the text.
  • 选段。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de jīng cǎi xuǎn duàn zài wǎng shàng hěn shòu huān yíng.
    The wonderful excerpts from this movie are very popular online.
  • 选段。
    Tā bèi sòng le nà piān yǎn jiǎng de yí gè xuǎn duàn.
    He recited a selected passage from that speech.

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.

选xuǎnselect
段duànsection

选段 joins 选, selected, with 段, passage, to mean an excerpt.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →

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
殳殳shū
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng段duàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

段's shape shows 殳 as a hammer breaking a stone, with fragments flying off.

Open 段 →
Appears in
Literature & PoetryReading & Writing

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