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舞蹈家 (wǔ dào jiā) — dancer (professional)

Definition

noun
dancer (professional)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de bā lěi wǔ dào jiā.
    She is a famous ballet dancer.
  • 舞蹈家。
    Zhè wèi wǔ dào jiā de biǎo yǎn fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
    This dancer's performance was very wonderful.
  • 舞蹈家。
    Hěn duō wǔ dào jiā cóng xiǎo jiù kāi shǐ xùn liàn.
    Many dancers start training from a young age.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

舞蹈dance
舞wǔdance蹈dǎostep/dance
联合Coordinate
家jiāexpert

舞 and 蹈 both evoke dance, and 家 denotes an expert, so the word means a professional dancer.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
舀
舀yǎo蹈dǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

蹈 is made of 足, a foot, and 舀; the foot part shows it is about foot actions, and 舀 gives the sound.

Open 蹈 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Dance & PerformanceProfessions & Jobs

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