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戏票 (xì piào) — theater ticket

Definition

noun
theater ticket
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 戏票。
    Wǒ mǎi le liǎng zhāng xì piào.
    I bought two theater tickets.
  • 戏票。
    Zhè zhāng xì piào shì gěi péng you de.
    This theater ticket is for a friend.
  • 戏票。
    Zhè chǎng xì de xì piào mài wán le.
    The tickets for this play are sold out.

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.

戏xìtheater
票piàoticket

戏 (theater) narrows 票 (ticket) to a ticket for a performance.

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 戲; 戏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēhalberd
Sound part声符shēngfú
䖒
䖒䖒戲xì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 戲, the shape combines 戈 (halberd) with 䖒, which gives the sound; the word originally meant an army's wing or flank. The simplified 戏 is a later shorthand, not the form described here.

Open 戏 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 𢍱𢍱𢍱to rise high

票 combines 火 (fire) and 𢍱 (to rise high), originally representing sparks rising up.

Open 票 →
Appears in
Film & Theater

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