诗句 (shī jù) — verse, line of poetry | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

verseline of poetry

Measure word · 行

诗句。
Zhè shǒu shī de shī jù hěn měi.
The lines of this poem are very beautiful.
诗句。
Tā bèi sòng le yí jù yǒu míng de shī jù.
He recited a famous line of poetry.
诗句。
Tā zài zhǐ shàng xiě xià le jǐ háng shī jù.
She wrote down a few lines of verse on the paper.

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.

诗 (poem) and 句 (line) combine to mean a line of poetry.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 詩; 诗 is its simplified writing.

言寺詩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

寺sì詩shī

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詩 combines 言 (speech) with 寺 as a sound part, because poetry is a kind of speech; the simplified 诗 is a later abbreviation.

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

丩丩jiūto entangle

Sound part声符shēngfú

口

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

句 pairs 丩, originally two entangled ropes and giving a sense of entangling, with 口 as the sound part.

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