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尖叫 (jiān jiào) — to scream, to shriek

Definition

verb
to screamto shriek

Examples

  • 尖叫。
    Tā hài pà de shí hou huì jiān jiào.
    She screams when she's scared.
  • 尖叫。
    Qiú mí men kàn dào jìn qiú hòu dà shēng jiān jiào.
    The fans screamed loudly after seeing the goal.
  • 尖叫，。
    Bié jiān jiào, yǒu shì qing hǎo hǎo shuō.
    Don't scream — talk things out properly.

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.

尖jiānsharp
叫jiàocry

A 尖 (sharp) 叫 (cry) is a sharp, piercing shout.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

尖 puts 小 (small) above 大 (large), showing the width of an object gradually changing from small to large.

Open 尖 →

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kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
丩
丩jiū叫jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

叫 shows a mouth 口 and a sound part 丩. The mouth fits the old sense of shouting.

Open 叫 →
Appears in
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