独白 (dú bái) — monologue; soliloquy | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

monologuesoliloquy

Measure word · 段

独白。
Zhè duàn dú bái fēi cháng gǎn rén.
This monologue is very moving.
独白。
Yǎn yuán zài wǔ tái shàng biǎo yǎn le yī xiǎo duàn dú bái.
The actor performed a short monologue on stage.
独白。
Zhè bù xì lǐ nǚ zhǔ jué de dú bái xiě dé tè bié hǎo.
The heroine's monologue in this play is particularly well-written.

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.

“独” means alone and “白” means speech, together naming one person's spoken lines.

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 獨; 独 is its simplified writing.

犭蜀獨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犭Written in full as犬quǎn

Sound part声符shēngfú

蜀

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 獨 pairs 犬 (dog) with 蜀, which gives the sound; the simplified 独 is a shorthand.

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

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