诗歌 (shī gē) — poetry; poem | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

诗歌 (shīgē) means 'poetry' as a whole genre or a body of poems, while 诗 is a single poem or the art in general. Contrast with 诗词, which adds classical ci forms. Use 本/首/段 as measure words.

noun

poetrypoem

Measure word · 本, 首, 段

Examples

诗歌。
Tā cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan shī gē.
He has liked poetry since childhood.
诗歌。
Zhè shǒu shī gē biǎo dá le zuò zhě duì jiā xiāng de sī niàn.
This poem expresses the author's longing for home.
诗歌，。
Wǒ mǎi le yì běn shī gē jí, lǐ miàn yǒu hěn duō zhù míng de zuò pǐn.
I bought a poetry collection that contains many famous works.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

'诗' means poem and '歌' means song, so together they refer to 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.

哥欠歌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

欠欠qiànblow

Sound part声符shēngfú

哥

哥gē歌gē

Same sound today

The shape 歌 uses 哥 for the sound and 欠, meaning blow. It came from a form of 哥 used for singing.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Literature & Poetry

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.