喧 (xuān) — (bound form) loud, noisy

Definition

喧 (xuān) is a bound morpheme — it never stands alone, only appears inside words like 喧闹, 喧哗, 喧嚷 meaning 'noisy / clamorous'. Think of it as the written root for noise-related vocabulary.

bound form
loudnoisy
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Jiē shàng de xuān nào shēng hěn dà.
    The noise on the street is very loud.
  • 。
    Qǐng dà jiā bú yào xuān huá.
    Please don't make noise, everyone.
  • 喧。
    Shì chǎng lǐ rén shēng xuān rǎng.
    The market is filled with the clamor of voices.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
宣
宣xuān喧xuān
Same sound today

喧 is made of 口 (mouth) and 宣, which is read xuān and gives the character its sound.

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