琴 (qín): guqin (ancient Chinese zither)

Measure Word

一把琴 bǎ

Meanings

1 guqin (ancient Chinese zither)
2 a general term for musical instruments (in compounds)

Characters

琴

qín

stringed instrument; piano

Examples

她会弹钢琴。

Tā huì tán gāngqín.

She can play the piano.

古琴是中国最古老的乐器之一。

Gǔqín shì Zhōngguó zuì gǔlǎo de yuèqì zhīyī.

The guqin is one of China's oldest instruments.

他从小就学小提琴。

Tā cóngxiǎo jiù xué xiǎotíqín.

He has been learning violin since he was young.

琴棋书画是古代文人的修养。

Qínqíshūhuà shì gǔdài wénrén de xiūyǎng.

Zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting were the accomplishments of ancient scholars.

Tips

usage

琴 appears in many instrument names: 钢琴 (piano), 小提琴 (violin), 大提琴 (cello), 吉他 is NOT 琴-based (it's a transliteration). 口琴 = harmonica.

Components

semantic

玨 jué

paired jade tablets

Top 玨 — two 王 (jade) side by side, the picture of paired jade tablets or strung jade ornaments. In 琴 these depict the rows of strings stretched across the soundbox of the ancient guqin: jade-toned, finely paired, resonant. Same doubled-jade idea reappears in 班 (group / class). Indexing radical 王 (jade) lives inside this top piece.

phonetic

今 jīn

now (phonetic)

Bottom phonetic 今 — supplies the sound (jīn → qín, palatalization; the same phonetic also gives 含 hán, 念 niàn, 钦 qīn). Itself meaning 'now,' it carries no semantic role for the instrument. The compound picture is poetic: paired jade strings (玨) sounding in the present moment (今) — a fitting graph for a stringed instrument prized for its meditative tone.

Filed under radical 玉 (yù) by convention. 玉 is not a separate component in 琴, so no strokes are highlighted.