填词

填詞

tiáncí

verb #36,280

Meanings

1 to write lyrics for an existing tune
2 to compose a ci poem (in a fixed metrical pattern)
3 to fill in lyrics

Characters

words, lyrics, ci-poem

Examples

苏轼是宋代著名的填词高手。

Sū Shì shì Sòngdài zhùmíng de tiáncí gāoshǒu.

Su Shi was a famous master of ci-poem composition in the Song dynasty.

这首歌的曲子先写好,再请人填词。

Zhè shǒu gē de qǔzi xiān xiě hǎo, zài qǐng rén tiáncí.

The melody of this song was written first, then someone was asked to write the lyrics.

Tips

culture

Literally 'to fill in (填) words (词)'. Originates from Tang/Song-dynasty 词 poetry: poets wrote new lyrics to existing tune patterns (词牌), filling in the prescribed tonal and syllabic slots — much like writing English lyrics to a known melody. The verb survives in modern Chinese songwriting.

Stroke Order

填 tián

词 cí