升腾 (shēng téng) — to rise; to surge upward (literal: of smoke, flames; figurative: of emotions, ambitions)

Definition

升腾 (shēngténg) is a literary verb for things rising or surging upward — usually smoke, flames, or heat, sometimes abstract like emotions or courage. Common in formal writing and is also used in the separable pattern 升腾起来.

verb
to riseto surge upward (literal: of smoke, flames; figurative: of emotions, ambitions)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 升腾。
    Nóng yān cóng chuāng hu shēng téng qǐ lái.
    Thick smoke rose from the window.
  • 升腾。
    Tā de yǒng qì shēng téng qǐ lái.
    His courage surged.
  • 升腾。
    Rè qì cóng guō lǐ bú duàn shēng téng.
    Heat kept rising from the pot.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

升shēngrise
腾téngsoar

升 and 腾 both express rising or soaring, so the word means to surge upward.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a drawing of a standard dipper used to measure one 升.

Open 升 →

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 騰; 腾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
朕
朕zhèn騰téng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 騰 pairs 馬 (horse) with 朕 as a sound part; it described a horse's gallop or prance. The simplified 腾 is a later shorthand.

Open 腾 →

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