球赛 (qiú sài) — ball game, match, tournament (especially for sp… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ball gamematchtournament (especially for sports like basketball, football, etc.)

Measure word · 场

Examples

球赛？
Míng tiān de qiú sài nǐ mǎi piào le ma?
Did you buy a ticket for tomorrow's ball game?
球赛，。
Zhè chǎng qiú sài tài jīng cǎi le, wǒ men quán kàn dāi le.
This match was so exciting that we were all stunned watching it.
球赛，。
Tā yì yǒu kòng jiù kàn qiú sài, shì gè tiě gǎn qiú mí.
He watches ball games whenever he's free; he's a hardcore fan.

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.

球 names the ball, and 赛 names a match; together they mean a ball game.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

塞

塞sāi賽sài

Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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