女声 (nǚ shēng) — female voice | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A compound noun meaning the female voice in singing or choral contexts — use it for the sound or the vocal section, as in 女歌手 (female singer) or 合唱团的女声部分.

noun

female voice

Examples

女声。
Zhè shǒu gē de nǚ shēng bù fen fēi cháng hǎo tīng.
The female voice part of this song is very beautiful.
女声。
Tā shì yí wèi yōu xiù de nǚ shēng gē shǒu.
She is an excellent female voice singer.
女声。
Hé chàng tuán lǐ nǚ shēng hé nán shēng pèi hé dé hěn wán měi.
The female and male voices in the choir complemented each other perfectly.

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.

女nǚfemale

声shēngvoice

女 (female) modifies 声 (voice), giving 'female voice'.

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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.

Open 声 →