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吉他 (jí tā) — guitar (counted with 把)

Definition

noun
guitar (counted with 把)
Measure word · 把

Examples

  • 吉他。
    Tā zhèng zài xué tán jí tā.
    He is learning to play the guitar.
  • 吉他。
    Wǒ yǒu yì bǎ jiù jí tā.
    I have an old guitar.
  • 吉他。
    Zhè bǎ jí tā de yīn sè fēi cháng hǎo.
    This guitar has a very good tone.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the earliest forms, 吉 was drawn with a mouth-like lower part and an upper part that later became today's upper shape.

Open 吉 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě他tā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

他 combines 亻 (a person) with 也, which was chosen for its sound.

Open 他 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Music5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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