叶 (xié) — harmonize; be in harmony (literary, bound form)

Definition

Literary word meaning 'in harmony' — used in classical-style writing about sounds, rhymes, or tones pairing well (e.g. 叶韵 'to rhyme harmoniously'). Not used in everyday speech.

bound form

harmonizebe in harmony (literary, bound form)

Examples

叶。
Zhè shǒu shī de yùn jiǎo bú xié.
The rhymes of this poem are not harmonious.
，叶。
Zài gǔ dài, xié shēng jiù shì hé xié de shēng yīn.
In ancient times, 叶声 meant harmonious sound.
叶。
Tā xiě zuò shí zhù zhòng xié yùn.
When writing, he pays attention to rhyming harmony.

Origin

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口十叶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

十

十shí叶yè

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 叶 pairs 口 (mouth) with 十 (ten) as an old form meaning cooperate; it later came to mean leaf because it sounded similar.

Appears in

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