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唱腔 (chàng qiāng) — vocal style / melodic pattern in traditional Chinese opera

Definition

The melody and vocal style a singer uses in traditional Chinese opera (戏曲), varying by role type (生、旦、净、丑) and regional school. Compare to 曲调 (a general tune/melody) and 行当 (role category, which determines the 唱腔).

noun
vocal style / melodic pattern in traditional Chinese opera
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 唱腔，。
    Jīng jù de chàng qiāng fēi cháng fēng fù, bù tóng de jué sè yǒu gè zì de tè sè.
    The vocal styles of Peking opera are very rich, with each role type having its own characteristics.
  • 唱腔，。
    Zhè wèi yǎn yuán de chàng qiāng yuán rùn dòng tīng, guān zhòng zhǎng shēng bú duàn.
    This performer's vocal style is smooth and beautiful, drawing continuous applause from the audience.
  • 唱腔。
    Xué xí yì zhǒng xì qǔ de chàng qiāng xū yào duō nián de liàn xí.
    Learning the vocal style of a type of opera requires many years of practice.

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.

唱chàngsinging
腔qiāngtune

唱 (singing) and 腔 (tune) give the vocal style of traditional opera.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
昌
昌chāng唱chàng
Same sound today

The 口 part points to the mouth, while 昌 shows how the character is pronounced.

Open 唱 →

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

腔 is made from 肉 (meat; flesh) plus 空 (empty; hollow), where 空 supplies the sound.

Open 腔 →
Appears in
Chinese Culture & CustomsMusic

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