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音节 (yīn jié) — syllable

Definition

A 音节 (yīnjié) is a 'syllable' — one unit of sound, like the three parts of 汉语. Pairs with 声调, which is the pitch contour ON each 音节.

noun
syllable

Examples

  • 音节。
    Zhè ge dān cí yǒu sān gè yīn jié.
    This word has three syllables.
  • ，音节。
    Xué xí hàn yǔ shí, yào zhù yì měi gè yīn jié de shēng diào.
    When learning Chinese, pay attention to the tone of each syllable.
  • 音节。
    Zhè ge cí yǔ de dì èr gè yīn jié dú qīng shēng.
    The second syllable of this word is read in neutral tone.

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.

音yīnsound
节jiésegment

音 gives sound, 节 gives segment, so the whole means a sound segment.

Characters in this word

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

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →

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 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Language

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