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悲剧 (bēi jù) — tragedy (a disastrous event or a play with a sad ending)

Definition

悲剧 means 'tragedy' in two senses: a sad play or film (a type of 戏剧) and a real-life disastrous event. It contrasts with 喜剧 ('comedy'), its opposite genre and outcome.

noun
tragedy (a disastrous event or a play with a sad ending)
Measure word · 出

Examples

  • 悲剧。
    Zhè chū bēi jù yǎn dé fēi cháng hǎo.
    This tragedy was performed very well.
  • 悲剧。
    Nà cì shì gù zhēn shì yì chǎng bēi jù.
    That accident was truly a tragedy.
  • 悲剧。
    Tā xiě le yí bù guān yú zhàn zhēng de bēi jù.
    He wrote a tragedy about war.

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.

悲bēisad
剧jùdrama

悲 marks sadness, and 剧 means drama, so together they name a sad play or disastrous event.

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
心心xīnheart; thought; emotion
Sound part声符shēngfú
非
非fēi悲bēi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

悲 pairs 非 as the sound part with 心, the heart/emotion part.

Open 悲 →

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 劇; 剧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
豦
豦jù劇jù
Same sound today

The traditional form 劇 pairs 豦, which gives the sound, with 刀, a knife; the simplified 剧 is a later shorthand.

Open 剧 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Film & TheaterLiterature & Poetry5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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