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亲耳 (qīn ěr) — with one's own ears (emphasizing first-hand hearing)

Definition

An adverb meaning 'with one's own ears,' used to stress first-hand hearing, often paired with 听见 or 听到. Contrast with 亲眼, which is the same construction for seeing.

adverb
with one's own ears (emphasizing first-hand hearing)

Examples

  • 亲耳。
    Wǒ qīn ěr tīng jiàn tā chéng rèn le cuò wù.
    I heard him admit his mistake with my own ears.
  • 亲耳？
    Nǐ qīn ěr tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi le ma?
    Did you hear this news with your own ears?
  • ，亲耳。
    Wǒ méi kàn jiàn, dàn wǒ qīn ěr tīng jiàn le.
    I didn't see it, but I heard it with my own ears.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

亲qīnpersonally
耳ěrear

亲 as personally and 耳 as ear give the sense of hearing with one's own ears.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

耳 is drawn as a picture of an ear.

Open 耳 →
Appears in
Senses

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