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选曲 (xuǎn qū) — selected songs; music selection

Definition

noun
selected songsmusic selection

Examples

  • 选曲。
    Zhè ge yīn yuè huì de xuǎn qū hěn bàng.
    The music selection for this concert is great.
  • 选曲。
    Tā fù zé diàn yǐng de xuǎn qū gōng zuò.
    She is in charge of the music selection for the film.
  • 选曲。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì zhāng yǒu xuǎn qū de guāng pán.
    I bought a CD with selected songs.

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.

选xuǎnchosen
曲qǔtune

选 chosen and 曲 tune together describe a piece of music that has been chosen.

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 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →

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

曲 is drawn as a bent object, matching the meaning 'bend'.

Open 曲 →
Appears in
Music

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