名剧 (míng jù) — famous play, celebrated drama

Definition

noun

famous playcelebrated drama

Measure word · 部

Easily confused

名剧。
Zhè bù míng jù shì shā shì bǐ yà xiě de.
This famous play was written by Shakespeare.
名剧。
Hěn duō guān zhòng dōu lái kàn zhè bù míng jù.
Many audiences come to watch this famous play.
名剧。
Zhè bù míng jù yǐ jīng yǎn le yì bǎi chǎng le.
This famous play has already been performed 100 times.

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.

"名" contributes the sense of famous, and "剧" names a play or drama, so together they mean a celebrated play.

Characters in this word

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

夕口名

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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.