哈欠 (hā qiàn) — yawn | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

哈欠 (hā qian) is the noun meaning a single yawn. As a separable verb, pair it with 打: 打哈欠 'to yawn'.

noun

yawn

哈欠。
Tā rěn bú zhù dǎ le yí gè hā qiàn.
He couldn't help yawning.
哈欠，。
Dǎ wán hā qiàn, tā jué de jīng shén hǎo duō le.
After yawning, she felt much more refreshed.
。
Kāi huì shí dǎ hā qiàn hěn bù lǐ mào.
Yawning during a meeting is very impolite.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

哈 and 欠 do not carry separate meanings here; together they name a yawn.

Sound-only characters

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

口合哈

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

合

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哈 uses 口 (mouth) to show a mouth-related idea, and 合 as a sound part. The shape of 合 may look like two open mouths, but that is likely by chance.

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

欠 is a kneeling person with an open mouth, shown in actions such as begging, speaking, blowing, singing, or being tired.