言情小说 (yán qíng xiǎo shuì) — romance novel; love story (genre label in Chinese literature and media)

Definition

A 'romance novel' as a genre label — fiction centered on love stories, the standard term in Chinese publishing and media (book covers, streaming categories).

noun
romance novellove story (genre label in Chinese literature and media)
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 言情小说，。
    Tā zuì xǐ huan kàn yán qíng xiǎo shuì, yóu qí shì gǔ dài bèi jǐng de nà zhǒng.
    She loves reading romance novels, especially those set in ancient times.
  • 言情小说，。
    Zhè běn yán qíng xiǎo shuì xiě dé tè bié gǎn rén, wǒ kàn kū le sān cì.
    This romance novel is especially moving — I cried three times reading it.
  • 言情小说。
    Xiàn zài de yán qíng xiǎo shuì gǎi biān chéng le hěn duō rè mén diàn shì jù.
    Many romance novels are now being adapted into popular TV series.

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.

言情speak of feelings
言yánspeak情qíngfeelings
动宾Verb + object
小说novel
小xiǎosmall说shuōtalk/story
偏正Modifier + head

言情 speaks of feelings and 小说 was small talk; together they label a romance novel.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Open 言 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →

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