声声 (shēng shēng) — (noun) every sound; sound after sound; each and…

Definition

声声 (shēngshēng) is a literary reduplication of 声, meaning 'sound after sound' or 'every sound,' used in writing to convey a continuous, repeated sound (钟声、雨声、呼唤). It is more emphatic than a single 声, and appears mostly in formal or poetic contexts.

noun

every soundsound after soundeach and every sound

Easily confused

生生shēng shēngsound-alike(Buddhist) the cycle of rebirth; successive incarnations

Examples

声声，。
Chuāng wài yǔ shēng shēng shēng, ràng rén nán yǐ rù shuì.
The rain sounds outside come one after another, making it hard to fall asleep.
声声。
Tā shēng shēng hū huàn zhe yuǎn fāng de qīn rén.
She called out again and again to her distant family.
声声，。
Gǔ sì zhōng shēng shēng shēng, huí dàng zài shān gǔ zhōng.
The bell sounds from the ancient temple ring out one after another, echoing in the valley.

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.

声shēngsound

声 means 'sound'; saying it twice gives 'sound after sound' or 'every sound'.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

殸耳聲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

殸

殸qìng聲shēng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Open 声 →