角 (jué): role (in a play, film, opera)

Meanings

1 role (in a play, film, opera)
2 to compete; to contend
3 ancient three-legged wine vessel
4 third note of the pentatonic scale

Examples

HSK 6

她在这部电影里演主角。

Tā zài zhèbù diànyǐng lǐ yǎn zhǔjué.

She plays the lead role in this film.

HSK 7-9

几支队伍在角逐冠军。

Jǐ zhī duìwǔ zài juézhú guànjūn.

Several teams are competing for the championship.

HSK 7-9

五声音阶的第三音叫角。

Wǔshēng yīnjiē de dìsān yīn jiào jué.

The pentatonic scale's third note is called jué.

Tips

history

The jué reading covers a tight semantic cluster: theatrical roles (角色, 主角), competing (角逐, 角斗), an ancient horn-shaped wine cup, and the third note of the classical 5-note scale (gōng-shāng-jué-zhǐ-yǔ). The thread is 'horns clashing' - animals locking horns gave the senses of contest and dramatic confrontation.

register

In Beijing opera circles 角儿 (with er-suffix) means a star performer. The plain 角 on its own is mostly bound - you'll meet it inside compounds, not as a standalone word.

Components

pictograph

角 jué

role; to compete

Same horn-pictograph as the jiǎo reading - Kangxi radical #148. The jué reading is a literary/theatrical branch: horns clashing extended to 'role' and 'contest'. Visual structure identical; only the reading changes with the meaning.

Radical

Horn Kangxi #148

The horn radical. A pictograph of an animal horn with ridged surface striations. From the original concrete sense it generalises to 'corner' and 'angle'. Indexes a small set of horn- and shape-related characters: 解 (untie/dissect), 觥 (drinking horn), 觞 (wine cup). Free word 角 is far more common than the radical role.