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对唱 (duì chàng) — antiphonal singing, musical dialogue (alternating between two singers or groups)

Definition

A performance style where two singers or groups alternate lines, often used in folk songs or musical storytelling. The 唱 element emphasizes singing, distinguishing it from spoken 对话.

noun
antiphonal singingmusical dialogue (alternating between two singers or groups)

Examples

  • 对唱。
    Zhè duàn duì chàng biǎo xiàn le liǎng gè rén zhī jiān de duì huà.
    This antiphonal section expresses a dialogue between two people.
  • 对唱。
    Mín gē zhōng cháng yòng duì chàng de xíng shì lái xù shù gù shi.
    Folk songs often use the antiphonal form to narrate stories.
  • 对唱。
    Tā men yòng duì chàng chàng chū le duì jiā xiāng de sī niàn.
    They expressed their longing for home through antiphonal singing.

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.

对duìpaired/alternating
唱chàngsing

对 suggests paired or alternating voices, and 唱 is the singing itself.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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 →
Appears in
Music

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