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重读 (zhòng dú) — to stress (a syllable or word in pronunciation), to pronounce with emphasis; (linguistics) to accent

Definition

In linguistics, 重读 means to stress or accent a syllable in pronunciation — emphasize it more than surrounding ones. Often used with 把 or 需要 to describe how a word is pronounced.

verb
to stress (a syllable or word in pronunciation)to pronounce with emphasis(linguistics) to accent

Examples

  • 重读。
    Zhè ge dān cí yīng gāi zhòng dú dì èr gè yīn jié.
    This word should stress the second syllable.
  • 重读。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men zài lǎng dú shí bǎ zhòng yīn cí zhòng dú.
    The teacher told us to stress the accented words while reading aloud.
  • 重读。
    Hàn yǔ zhōng zhǐ yǒu shǎo shù cí xū yào tè shū zhòng dú.
    Only a small number of words in Chinese need special stress.

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.

重zhòngheavy
读dúread

重 conveys heavy or strong, and 读 means read, so together they mean to read with strong emphasis.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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 讀; 读 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánto say
Sound part声符shēngfú
𧶠
𧶠𧶠讀dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 讀 is made of 言 ('to say') and 𧶠 (giving the sound); this description is about 讀, not 读.

Open 读 →
Appears in
Language

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