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舞会 (wǔ huì) — dance party; ball

Definition

noun
dance partyball
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 舞会。
    Wǒ chuān le yí jiàn xīn yī fu qù wǔ huì.
    I wore a new dress to the dance.
  • 舞会。
    wǔ huì Zài wǎn shàng bā diǎn kāi shǐ.
    The dance starts at 8 PM.
  • 舞会。
    Tā qǐng wǒ qù míng tiān de wǔ huì.
    She invited me to tomorrow's ball.

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.

舞wǔdance
会huìgathering

“舞” (dance) and “会” (gathering) combine to mean a party for dancing.

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
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 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
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