部
bù
The counter for parts locked into one whole: 部
The picture Separate parts clicking into place one after another until they make a single whole you can no longer take apart. 部 counts a finished whole built out of interlocking parts; 篇 counts one piece of writing read straight through.
Where the picture shows up in 部
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one piece start to finish
这部电影很长。
zhè bù diànyǐng hěn cháng
This film is really long.
A screen running one film whole, from the first shot to the last credit.
One film is 部; one sitting of watching it is 场.
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many sheets bound into one story
他写了一部小说。
tā xiě le yí bù xiǎoshuō
He wrote a novel.
A stack of manuscript pages piling up in order and coming out bound as one volume.
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a set packed with entries
我买了一部新词典。
wǒ mǎi le yí bù xīn cídiǎn
I bought a new dictionary.
Thousands of words seated in order inside a single volume.
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a machine of interlocking parts
这部手机是去年的。
zhè bù shǒujī shì qùnián de
This phone is last year's model.
Holding a phone whose back panel reveals parts fitted tight against each other.
In speech 一个手机 is also heard.
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one unit on a line
前台有一部电话。
qiántái yǒu yí bù diànhuà
There is a telephone at the front desk.
One telephone on the front desk with its cord running off the table.
All of it in one picture
The film running from first shot to last credit is 部, the novel whose chapters bind into one story is 部, the dictionary holding thousands of entries in one volume is 部. The phone with its parts clicked together and the front-desk telephone on its line are 部 too. 部 counts not bulk but 'a set whose pieces have locked into something you can no longer split'. So anything counted with 部 carries the weight of being finished.