嚷嚷 (rāng rang) — (colloquial) to shout, to yell noisily; (colloq…

Definition

A colloquial reduplicated verb (bound form — always reduplicates as 嚷嚷) meaning to shout noisily, make a fuss, or spread news indiscreetly. Stays strictly spoken; never use in formal writing.

bound form

(colloquial) to shoutto yell noisily(colloquial) to make a fussto complain loudly(colloquial) to spread (news) around indiscreetly

Examples

嚷嚷，。
Bié rāng rang le, dà jiā dōu zài shuì jiào.
Stop shouting, everyone is sleeping.
嚷嚷。
Tā wèi le zhè diǎn xiǎo shì jiù rāng rang gè bù tíng.
She kept making a fuss over such a trivial matter.
，嚷嚷。
Zhè jiàn shì hái méi què dìng, nǐ bié dào chù rāng rang.
This matter hasn't been decided yet, don't spread it around everywhere.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

嚷rǎngshout

嚷 (shout) doubled suggests noisy shouting or fussing.

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.

口襄嚷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

襄

襄xiāng嚷rǎng

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

嚷 combines 口 (mouth) with 襄, which supplies the pronunciation; the mouth part relates to the meaning of shouting or making noise.

Open 嚷 →