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词 (cí) — word; lyrics; words, speech (as in what one says)

Definition

词 is a single written word or the lyrics of a song. Use 字 for a single character, 词语 for a general term, and 说话/话语 for spoken words.

noun
wordlyricswordsspeech (as in what one says)
Measure word · 组, 个, 首
Easily confused

Examples

  • 词？
    Zhè ge cí nǐ rèn shi ma?
    Do you know this word?
  • 词。
    Zhè shǒu gē de cí hěn hǎo.
    The lyrics of this song are good.
  • 词，。
    Tā méi cí le, bù zhī dào shuō shén me.
    He ran out of words and didn't know what to say.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Appears in
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