此起彼伏 (cǐ qǐ bǐ fú)

Character breakdown

• 此 (cǐ) · 6 strokes

  Origin unclear. Two possible explanations are (1) depicts a person (人) stopping (止), meaning "here", and (2) depicts a foot (止) kicking a person (人), based on an earlier meaning "to kick" (跐).

• 起 (qǐ) · 10 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

• 彼 (bǐ) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

• 伏 (Fú) · 6 strokes

  Depicts a person (亻) lying down next to a dog (犬). The meaning later shifted to "crouch".

Usage

演唱会现场观众的欢呼声此起彼伏，气氛非常热烈。

The cheers from the audience at the concert rose and fell in waves, creating an incredibly lively atmosphere.

Yǎn chàng huì xiàn chǎng guān zhòng de huān hū shēng cǐ qǐ bǐ fú, qì fēn fēi cháng rè liè.