配音

• Pinyin: pèi yīn
• Hanzi breakdown: 配 = 酉 + 己 (match, pair); 音 = 言 + 日 (voice from the mouth — sound)

Meaning

Dub; dubbing; to record a voice track for a film, animation, or other media; voice acting.

Central to the Chinese film and animation industry, where foreign productions are widely dubbed. 配音演员 (voice actor/actress) is a distinct and recognised profession. In the age of short video, 配音 also refers to adding narration or character voices to online content.

Examples

1. 这部引进的动画片经过专业团队的配音，深受国内观众喜爱。 This imported animated series was dubbed by a professional team and is very popular with domestic audiences.
2. 她是一位经验丰富的配音演员，为数百个角色留下了声音。 She’s an experienced voice actor who has voiced hundreds of characters.
3. 短视频平台上，配音创作已成为一种独特的内容形式。 On short-video platforms, dubbing has become a distinctive type of content.

Usage Guide

Context: film, animation, media, voice acting

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 该纪录片的配音工作由一位曾为多部获奖影片献声的资深演员担任。(The dubbing for this documentary was handled by a veteran actor who has lent his voice to multiple award-winning productions.)
• 随着人工智能配音技术的成熟，部分企业已开始尝试用合成语音替代真人配音。(As AI dubbing technology matures, some companies have begun experimenting with synthetic voices to replace human voice actors.)

Don't Say

• 她配音了这首歌 — use 演唱 or 录制 for singing or recording music; 配音 is specific to matching a speaking voice to visual media, not singing

Origin & History

配 (match, assign) + 音 (sound, voice) — to match a voice to an image

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal