电话会议 (diàn huà huì yì) — teleconference; conference call

Definition

noun

teleconferenceconference call

Measure word · 个

Examples

电话会议。
Wǒ men měi zhōu yī dōu kāi diàn huà huì yì.
We have a teleconference every Monday.
电话会议。
Zhè cì diàn huà huì yì yǒu shí gè rén cān jiā.
Ten people participated in this conference call.
电话会议。
Qǐng jǐn kuài què rèn diàn huà huì yì de shí jiān.
Please confirm the teleconference time as soon as possible.

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.

电话

电diànelectric话huàspeech

偏正Modifier + head

会议

会huìmeet议yìdiscuss

联合Coordinate

电话 (telephone) specifies the kind of 会议 (meeting).

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 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

雨雨yǔrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

申

申shēn電diàn

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

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Open 电 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánword

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

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

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

合合héto meet

Sound part声符shēngfú

𡆧

𡆧𡆧會huì

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

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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 議; 议 is its simplified writing.

言義議

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yántalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

義

義yì議⁰yì

Same sound today

The traditional form 議 pairs 言 (talk) with 義 as a sound component; the simplified 议 is a later shorthand.

Open 议 →