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五音

wǔyīn
noun #36,122

Meanings

  1. 1 the five notes (pentatonic scale)
  2. 2 five classes of initial consonants (traditional phonology)

Examples

他五音不全，从来不敢唱KTV。
Tā wǔyīn bùquán, cónglái bù gǎn chàng KTV.
He's tone-deaf and never dares sing at KTV.
中国古代音乐用五音：宫商角徵羽。
Zhōngguó gǔdài yīnyuè yòng wǔyīn: gōng shāng jué zhǐ yǔ.
Ancient Chinese music used five notes: gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu.

Tips

culture
The pentatonic scale 宫商角徵羽 (gōng shāng jué zhǐ yǔ) roughly corresponds to do-re-mi-sol-la. The fixed idiom 五音不全 (tone-deaf) is by far the most common usage in modern speech.

Stroke Order

五 wǔ
音 yīn