悲喜 (bēi xǐ) — grief and joy; sorrow and happiness

Definition

A paired noun meaning 'sorrow and happiness together' — almost always used in the set phrase 悲喜交加 ('mixed feelings of grief and joy').

noun
grief and joysorrow and happiness

Examples

  • 。
    Tā xīn zhōng chōng mǎn le bēi xǐ jiāo jiā de gǎn jué.
    His heart was filled with mixed feelings of grief and joy.
  • 悲喜，。
    Rén shēng yǒu bēi xǐ, zhè shì hěn zhèng cháng de.
    Life has both sorrow and joy; that's very normal.
  • 悲喜。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng le yí gè bēi xǐ de gù shi.
    This movie tells a story of grief and joy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

悲bēigrief
喜xǐjoy

悲 means 'grief' and 喜 means 'joy', so together they mean 'grief and joy'.

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 →

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

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Open 喜 →

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