敲门声 (qiāo mén shēng) — sound of knocking on a door | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sound of knocking on a door

Measure word · 阵

Examples

敲门声。
Tū rán chuán lái yí zhèn jí cù de qiāo mén shēng.
Suddenly there came a series of urgent knocks on the door.
敲门声，。
Tā tīng dào qiāo mén shēng, gǎn jǐn qù kāi mén.
She heard the knocking and hurried to open the door.
敲门声。
Bàn yè de qiāo mén shēng bǎ tā xià xǐng le.
The knocking in the middle of the night startled him awake.

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.

敲门knock on a door

敲qiāoknock门méndoor

动宾Verb + object

“敲门” (knock on a door) and “声” (sound) combine to mean the sound of knocking.

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.

高攴敲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pūto hit lightly; to tap

Sound part声符shēngfú

高

高gāo敲qiāo

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

敲 combines 高, which supplies the sound, with 攴, meaning to hit lightly or tap.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

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.

Appears in

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