声乐 (shēng yuè) — vocal music | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Vocal music — singing, as opposed to instrumental music (器乐). The traditional counterpart to 器乐 in Chinese music terminology.

noun

vocal music

Examples

声乐，。
Tā cóng xiǎo xué xí shēng yuè, xiàn zài shì yì míng gē chàng jiā.
She has studied vocal music since childhood and is now a singer.
声乐。
Zhè chǎng shēng yuè yǎn chū xī yǐn le hěn duō guān zhòng.
This vocal music performance attracted a large audience.
声乐。
shēng yuè Hé qì yuè shì yīn yuè de liǎng dà lèi bié.
Vocal music and instrumental music are the two main categories of music.

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.

声 (voice) specifies 乐 (music), meaning music made by the voice.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

殸耳聲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

殸

殸qìng聲shēng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

絲絲sīstring
木木mùwood

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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