歌唱

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 歌唱 (gēchàng) for "singing" is composed of two characters: 歌 (gē) and 唱 (chàng). The character 歌 originally meant "to praise" or "to sing praises", and it was often used in ancient Chinese poetry to refer to songs of praise or worship. The character 唱, on the other hand, originally meant "to recite" or "to chant", and it was often used in ancient Chinese drama to refer to the recitation of lines by actors. Over time, the two characters came to be used together to refer to the act of singing, and the compound word 歌唱 became the standard Chinese word for "singing".