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发笑 (fā xiào) — to laugh, to burst out laughing (formal or written)

Definition

A written/formal verb meaning 'to burst out laughing' or 'to provoke laughter'. Note the structure: 他讲的笑话令人发笑 ('his jokes made people laugh'), or 看到那里，我忍不住发笑.

verb
to laughto burst out laughing (formal or written)

Examples

  • 发笑。
    Tā de xiào hua lìng rén fā xiào.
    His joke made people laugh.
  • ，发笑。
    Kàn dào nà ge biǎo qíng, wǒ rěn bú zhù fā xiào.
    Seeing that expression, I couldn't help laughing.
  • ，。
    Tā jiǎng wán gù shi, fā le yí zhèn xiào.
    After telling the story, he let out a burst of laughter.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

发fāproduce or burst into
笑xiàolaughter

发 means to produce or burst into, and 笑 is laughter; together they mean to laugh.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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