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同音 (tóng yīn) — homophony (the phenomenon of words sounding the same); (attributive) homophonic, sharing the same pronunciation

Definition

Refers to two or more characters or words that share the same pronunciation (e.g. 工 and 公). Often used attributively before 字, 词, or 现象 to describe this relationship.

noun
homophony (the phenomenon of words sounding the same)(attributive) homophonicsharing the same pronunciation

Examples

  • 同音，“”“”。
    Hàn yǔ lǐ yǒu hěn duō tóng yīn zì, bǐ rú "gōng" hé "gōng".
    There are many homophonous characters in Chinese, such as '工' and '公'.
  • 同音。
    tóng yīn Xiàn xiàng zài shī gē zhōng cháng bèi yòng lái zhì zào shuāng guān xiào guǒ.
    The phenomenon of homophony is often used in poetry to create puns.
  • 同音。
    Zhè liǎng gè cí de tóng yīn guān xì ràng wǒ zài tīng lì kǎo shì zhōng xuǎn cuò le dá àn.
    The homophonic relationship between these two words made me choose the wrong answer in the listening test.

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.

同tóngsame
音yīnsound

The idea of 同 applied to 音 gives the sense of identical pronunciation.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →
Appears in
Language

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