监听 (jiān tīng) — to monitor (audio, communications, etc.)

Definition

verb

to monitor (audio, communications, etc.)

监听。
Jǐng fāng zhèng zài jiān tīng tā de diàn huà.
The police are monitoring his phone calls.
监听。
Tā men yòng shè bèi jiān tīng le zhěng chǎng huì yì.
They used equipment to monitor the entire meeting.
监听。
Wèi jīng yǔn xǔ jiān tīng tā rén tán huà shì wéi fǎ de.
Monitoring others' conversations without permission is illegal.

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.

监jiānsupervise

监 (supervise) plus 听 (listen) means listening in to monitor communications.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 監; 监 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 監 shows 臥, a person with an emphasized eye, looking into 皿, a container; the simplified 监 is a later shorthand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.

Appears in