聋哑 (lóng yā) — deaf and mute (person); deaf-mute | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to a person who is both deaf and unable to speak. Often used as a modifier before nouns like 人 or 学校; in modern usage, 听障 'hearing-impaired' is the more neutral, respectful term.

noun

deaf and mute (person)deaf-mute

Measure word · 个

Examples

聋哑。
Nà suǒ lóng yā xué xiào cǎi yòng le xīn de jiào xué fāng fǎ.
That school for the deaf and mute adopted new teaching methods.
。
Tā de dì di shì yí wèi lóng yā rén.
Her younger brother is a deaf-mute person.
聋哑。
Tā men yòng shǒu yǔ lái bāng zhù lóng yā huàn zhě jiāo liú.
They use sign language to help deaf-mute patients communicate.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

聋 and 哑 stand side by side for deaf and mute, giving a deaf-mute person.

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 聾; 聋 is its simplified writing.

龍耳聾

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

龍

龍lóng聾lóng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聾 pairs 耳 (ear) with 龍 (lóng) as the sound part.

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 啞; 哑 is its simplified writing.

口亞啞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

亞

亞yā啞

Same sound today

In the traditional form 啞, 口 shows the idea of mouth, and 亞 supplies the pronunciation; the simplified 哑 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 2.0 Level 6

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