贵宾席 (guì bīn xí) — VIP seats, seats for distinguished guests

Definition

noun
VIP seatsseats for distinguished guests
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 贵宾席。
    guì bīn xí Zài èr lóu.
    The VIP seats are on the second floor.
  • 贵宾席。
    Qǐng gè wèi guì bīn dào guì bīn xí rù zuò.
    Please, distinguished guests, take your seats in the VIP area.
  • 贵宾席。
    Zhè chǎng yǎn chū de guì bīn xí yǐ jīng quán bù mài wán le.
    All VIP seats for this performance have been sold out.

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.

贵宾distinguished guest
贵guìhonorable宾bīnguest
偏正Modifier + head
席xíseat

Seats for honorable guests are reserved places for distinguished visitors.

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 貴; 贵 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney cowrie
Sound part声符shēngfú
臾
臾yú貴guì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貴 uses 貝, a money cowrie, for meaning and 臾 for sound. The simplified 贵 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the old parts.

Open 贵 →

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 賓; 宾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèi
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡧍
𡧍𡧍賓bīn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賓 is built from 𡧍 and 貝: 𡧍 gives the sound, and 貝 relates to the meaning. The simplified 宾 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 宾 →

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →

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