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召唤 (zhào huàn) — to summon, to call (forth)

Definition

召唤 (zhàohuàn) is a formal/literary verb meaning 'to summon' or 'to call forth' — often used for abstract, emotional, or ceremonial contexts (memories, heroes, spirits), more elevated than everyday 叫 or 喊.

verb
to summonto call (forth)

Examples

  • 召唤。
    Lǎo shī zhào huàn xué shēng dào bàn gōng shì.
    The teacher summoned the student to the office.
  • 召唤。
    Zhè shǒu gē zhào huàn qǐ le wǒ tóng nián de huí yì.
    This song summoned up memories of my childhood.
  • 召唤。
    Rén men zhào huàn yīng xióng lái zhěng jiù chéng shì.
    People called upon heroes to save the city.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

召zhàosummon; call
唤huàncall

'召' means to call forth and '唤' means to call, meaning to summon.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
刀
刀dāo召zhào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape of 召 pairs 口 (mouth), for calling out, with 刀 (knife), which supplies the sound; it originally meant to call out or serve wine.

Open 召 →

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 喚; 唤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
奐
奐huàn喚huàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 喚 pairs 口 (mouth) with 奐, which gives the pronunciation; the simplified 唤 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 唤 →
Appears in
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