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剧本 (jù běn) — script, screenplay (for a play, film, or TV series)

Definition

剧本 is the written script or screenplay for a play, film, or TV series — the document actors and directors work from. Contrast with 剧情, which is the plot/storyline the script tells, not the document itself.

noun
scriptscreenplay (for a play, film, or TV series)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 剧本。
    Zhè ge jù běn shì gēn jù zhēn shí gù shi gǎi biān de.
    This script is adapted from a true story.
  • 。
    Yǎn yuán men zhèng zài pái liàn xīn jù běn.
    The actors are rehearsing a new script.
  • 剧本。
    Dǎo yǎn duì jù běn zuò le hěn duō xiū gǎi.
    The director made many revisions to the script.

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.

剧jùdrama
本běnbook/text

剧 means drama and 本 means book or text, so together they name a written text for a performance.

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 劇; 剧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
豦
豦jù劇jù
Same sound today

The traditional form 劇 pairs 豦, which gives the sound, with 刀, a knife; the simplified 剧 is a later shorthand.

Open 剧 →

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

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →
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