民间舞 (mín jiān wǔ) — folk dance

Definition

noun
folk dance

Examples

  • 民间舞。
    Tā tè bié xǐ huan tiào mín jiān wǔ.
    She especially likes to dance folk dance.
  • 民间舞。
    Zuó tiān wǒ men kàn le yì chǎng jīng cǎi de mín jiān wǔ.
    Yesterday we watched a wonderful folk dance performance.
  • 民间舞。
    mín jiān wǔ Shì mín zú wén huà de zhòng yào zǔ chéng bù fen.
    Folk dance is an important part of national culture.

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.

民间folk
民mínpeople间jiānamong
偏正Modifier + head
舞wǔdance

Dance from among the people means folk dance.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →

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 →

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