竞猜 (jìng cāi) — guessing competition

Definition

竞猜 (jìng cāi) refers specifically to a structured guessing game or contest, often on TV shows or online. 比 比赛 more general 'competition', 竞猜 narrows the focus to contests of guessing answers or outcomes.

noun
guessing competition

Examples

  • 竞猜。
    Zhè ge jìng cāi jié mù hěn shòu huān yíng.
    This guessing competition show is very popular.
  • 竞猜。
    Tā cān jiā le yí gè wǎng luò jìng cāi huó dòng.
    He participated in an online guessing competition event.
  • 竞猜。
    jìng cāi De tí mù shè jí hěn duō lǐng yù.
    The guessing competition questions cover many fields.

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.

竞jìngcompete
猜cāiguess

The sense of competing in 竞 and guessing in 猜 combine to mean a competitive guessing activity.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 競; 竞 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 競 shows 誩 (argument) above two 儿 (men), as two individuals debating vigorously; the simplified 竞 is a later abbreviation.

Open 竞 →

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
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng猜cāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

猜 pairs 犭, the dog radical (full form 犬), with 青 as the sound part.

Open 猜 →

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