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杂耍 (zá shuǎ) — variety show; vaudeville; juggling and acrobatic performances

Definition

noun
variety showvaudevillejuggling and acrobatic performances
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 杂耍，。
    Zuó tiān wǒ men qù kàn le zá shuǎ biǎo yǎn, fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
    Yesterday we went to see a variety show; it was very exciting.
  • 杂耍，。
    Tā xiǎo shí hou xué guò zá shuǎ, xiàn zài hái shì gè zá jì yǎn yuán.
    He studied juggling when he was young, and is still an acrobatic performer now.
  • 杂耍。
    Zhè ge jù yuàn de zá shuǎ jié mù xī yǐn le hěn duō guān zhòng.
    This theater's variety show attracted many spectators.

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.

杂zámiscellaneous
耍shuǎtricks

The 杂 sense of miscellaneous joins with 耍 as tricks to mean varied performances.

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 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 耍 →
Appears in
Dance & Performance

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