传记片 (zhuàn jì piàn) — biographical film

Definition

noun
biographical film
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 传记片。
    Zhè bù zhuàn jì piàn jiǎng de shì yí gè zhù míng huà jiā de gù shi.
    This biographical film tells the story of a famous painter.
  • 传记片。
    Wǒ zuì jìn kàn le yí bù guān yú lǔ xùn de zhuàn jì piàn.
    I recently watched a biographical film about Lu Xun.
  • 传记片。
    Zhè bù zhuàn jì piàn zhēn shí dì zài xiàn le lì shǐ.
    This biographical film realistically recreates history.

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.

传记biography
传chuánbiography记jìrecord
联合Side by side
片piànfilm

"传记" gives the idea of a recorded life, and "片" names a film, yielding a film about a life.

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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 記; 记 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech; words
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ記jì
Same sound today

The traditional form 記 pairs 言 (speech; words) with 己 as a sound part; the simplified 记 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical component.

Open 记 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

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