Taxonomy of meanings for 歌:　　

  • gē (OC: klaal MC: kɑ) 古俄切 平 廣韻：【禮記曰舜作五弦之琴以歌南風釋名曰人聲曰歌歌者柯也以聲吟詠上下如草木之有柯葉兖冀言歌聲如柯古俄切十一 】
    • SING
      • nabactsinging
      • viactsing in mourning
      • vt.+VtoSsing a song with the words 歌曰
      • vt[oN]sing a melody, sing a song, sing along (should this be vt[oN]???) often to accompaniment on the lute
      • vtoNsing, sing about;
      • vtoNN=soundssing
      • vtoNpassivebe sung the praise of, get praised in song
      • vising a plaintive songCH
      • vi|nabactsing/singingCH
      • vtoN.+VtoSsing a song about N with the words S 歌之曰TW
      • object> SONG
        • nobjectsong; popular song (also that of primitive peoples etc) 
      • specific> PRAISE
        • vtoNsing the praise of, praise through song
        • vtoN.+VtoSpraise N singing SDS
      • wihout melody, loudly> SHOUT

      Additional information about 歌

      說文解字: 【歌】，詠也。 〔小徐本無「也」。〕 从欠、哥聲。 【古俄切】 【謌】，歌或从言。

        Criteria
      • SONG

        1. The current general word for a song with or without accompanying music of any kind is gē 歌.

        2. Shī 詩 refers to a regularly rhymed song with a generally regular number of syllables per line.

        3. Fēng 風 refers to a folk song with a given melody.

        4. Fù 賦 refers originally to any narrative or descriptive song in early texts but came to refer to the genre of rhyme prose.

        5. Yáo 謠 refers to a folksong, mostly in ancient texts to a children's ditty, with a more or less fixed melody, but the focus seems to be on the text and there is no accompanying music involved.

        6. O!u 謳 is a dialect word (state of Qi) referring to popular work-songs with a more or less fixed melody.

        7. Yín 吟 is occasionally used, from late Han and Three Kingdoms times onwards, as a noun and refers to a popular song.

      • SING

        1. The current general word for singing a song is gē 歌.

        2. Míng 鳴 refers to the singing of non-human agents.

        3. Chàng 唱 is to set the tune in singing, but the word later came to refer also to reciting prose texts in a dramatic drawn-out manner. See CHANT

        4. Hé 和 is to chime in singing according to a tune set by someone else.

        5. O!u 謳 and the rarer yáo 謠 refer specifically to unaccompanied singing of songs, typically folk songs.

        Word relations
      • Inconsist: (SING)哭/WEEP Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears.
      • Ant: (SING)哭/WEEP Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears.
      • Contrast: (SING)吟/CHANT Yín 吟is to hum and quietly intone something for one's own enjoyment, perhaps as one walks along, typically as an expression of one's emotions, and not primarily for others to listen to, and the word is never used as a transitive verb with an object indicating what exancly is being hummed or intoned.
      • Contrast: (SING)哭/WEEP Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears.
      • Contrast: (SING)詠/CHANT The current word for chanting prose for the benefit of others is sòng 誦, and the prose chanted normally has to be of high cultural status.
      • Contrast: (SING)誦/CHANT The current word for chanting poetry in a deeply emotional manner for the benefit of others is yǒng 詠;
      • Assoc: (SING)吟/CHANT Yín 吟is to hum and quietly intone something for one's own enjoyment, perhaps as one walks along, typically as an expression of one's emotions, and not primarily for others to listen to, and the word is never used as a transitive verb with an object indicating what exancly is being hummed or intoned.
      • Assoc: (SING)曲/SONG
      • Assoc: (SONG)謠/SONG Yáo 謠 refers to a folksong, mostly in ancient texts to a children's ditty, with a more or less fixed melody, but the focus seems to be on the text and there is no accompanying music involved.
      • Assoc: (SING)謳/SING Ōu 謳 and the rarer yáo 謠 refer specifically to unaccompanied singing of songs, typically folk songs.
      • Assoc: (SING)哭/WEEP Kū 哭 (ant. xiào 笑 "laugh") refers primarily to the (often ritualised) act of lamentation and wailing which may or may not be accompanied by the shedding of tears, and the word is never used to refer to refer to a spontaneous breaking into tears.
      • Assoc: (SING)弦/STRING The general word for a string of any kind, on any bow or any string instrument, is xián 弦.
      • Relat: (SING)和/SING Hè 和 is to chime in singing according to a tune set by someone else.
      • Oppos: (SING)舞/DANCE There is only one common word for dancing, wǔ4 舞, and this focusses mainly to the movement of the arms.