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凡响 (fán xiǎng) — (usually in negative constructions) ordinary music; (in 不同凡响) extraordinary, remarkable

Definition

凡响 literally means 'ordinary music', but it almost always appears inside the set phrases 不同凡响 or 非同凡响 to mean 'extraordinary, remarkable'. Don't try to use 凡响 on its own — learn the phrases.

noun
(usually in negative constructions) ordinary music(in 不同凡响) extraordinaryremarkable

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā de biǎo yǎn bù tóng fán xiǎng, yíng dé le quán chǎng zhǎng shēng.
    His performance was extraordinary and won applause from the whole audience.
  • 凡响，。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng fēi tóng fán xiǎng, zhí dé yí kàn.
    This movie is out of the ordinary and worth watching.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge shè jì bù tóng fán xiǎng, ràng rén yǎn qián yí liàng.
    This design is remarkable and makes people's eyes light up.

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.

凡fánordinary
响xiǎngsound

凡 (ordinary) and 响 (sound) together denote ordinary music or sound.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

Open 凡 →

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 響; 响 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
音音yīnsound
Sound part声符shēngfú
鄉
鄉xiāng響xiǎng
Same sound today

The traditional form 響 pairs 音, meaning sound, with 鄉 to give its pronunciation. The simplified 响 is a later shorthand, so its visible parts are not the historical parts.

Open 响 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsMusic

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