歌舞片 (gē wǔ piān) — musical (film/movie)

Definition

noun
musical (film/movie)
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 歌舞片，。
    Wǒ zuì jìn kàn le yí bù jīng diǎn de gē wǔ piān, lǐ miàn de wǔ dǎo fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
    I recently watched a classic musical; the dancing inside was spectacular.
  • 歌舞片，。
    Zhè bù gē wǔ piān bù jǐn yīn yuè hǎo tīng, jù qíng yě tè bié gǎn rén.
    This musical has not only great music, but also a very touching story.
  • 歌舞片，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù xiǎng yǎn yí bù gē wǔ piān, xiàn zài zhōng yú shí xiàn le mèng xiǎng.
    She's wanted to star in a musical since she was little, and now she's finally realized her dream.

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.

歌舞song and dance
歌gēsong舞wǔdance
联合Side by side
片piànfilm

歌 and 舞 give songs and dances, and 片 names a film, together meaning a musical film.

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
欠欠qiànblow
Sound part声符shēngfú
哥
哥gē歌gē
Same sound today

The shape 歌 uses 哥 for the sound and 欠, meaning blow. It came from a form of 哥 used for singing.

Open 歌 →

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
舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction
Sound part声符shēngfú
無
無wú舞wǔ
Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

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