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四重奏 (sì chóng zòu) — (instrumental) quartet

Definition

A classical-music ensemble of four players, one to a part. Literally 'four-(same)-play': 四 = four, 重奏 = a chamber ensemble where each player has an independent line.

noun
(instrumental) quartet

Examples

  • 四重奏。
    Tā men zhèng zài yǎn zòu yì shǒu bèi duō fēn de sì chóng zòu.
    They are playing a Beethoven quartet.
  • 四重奏。
    Zhè chǎng sì chóng zòu de yīn yuè huì mén piào zǎo jiù mài wán le.
    Tickets for this quartet concert sold out long ago.
  • ，四重奏。
    Tā cóng xiǎo xué xí xiǎo tí qín, hòu lái jiā rù le xué xiào de sì chóng zòu.
    She studied violin from a young age and later joined the school's quartet.

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.

四重four layers
四sìfour重zhònglayer
偏正Modifier + head
奏zòuperformance

四 means four, 重 means layers, and 奏 means performance, so the result is a four-layer performance.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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

The shape of 奏 pictures hands holding an object, perhaps an instrument used in a ritual, or hands collecting resin dripping from a cut tree.

Open 奏 →
Appears in
Music

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