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霹雳舞 (pī lì wǔ) — breakdancing

Definition

noun
breakdancing
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 霹雳舞。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù kāi shǐ xué pī lì wǔ.
    He started learning breakdancing as a child.
  • 霹雳舞。
    Zuó wǎn de pī lì wǔ bǐ sài fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
    Last night's breakdancing competition was very exciting.
  • 霹雳舞？
    Nǐ huì tiào pī lì wǔ ma?
    Can you do breakdancing?

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.

霹雳thunderbolt
霹pī雳lì
舞wǔdance

霹雳 suggests a sudden, forceful motion, and 舞 names the dance.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
辟
辟pì霹
Same sound today

霹 has 雨 above 辟. Here, 辟 gives the sound, and 雨 shows the general area of meaning.

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 靂; 雳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
歷
歷lì靂
Same sound today

The traditional form 靂 has 雨 (rain) and 歷, which gave the sound. The simplified 雳 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

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
舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction
Sound part声符shēngfú
無
無wú舞wǔ
Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →
Appears in
Dance & Performance

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