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难听 (nán tīng) — (of sound) unpleasant to hear; (of speech or behavior) coarse, vulgar, offensive

Definition

难听 means 'unpleasant to hear' — used for sounds, words, or behavior that sound offensive. Contrast 俗 (vulgar in taste/style) and 粗 (rough/rude in manner): 难听 focuses on the ear, not the content or style.

adjective
(of sound) unpleasant to hear(of speech or behavior) coarsevulgaroffensive

Examples

  • 难听。
    Zhè ge shēng yīn zhēn nán tīng.
    This sound is really unpleasant.
  • 难听。
    Tā shuō de nà huà tài nán tīng le.
    What he said was too offensive.
  • 难听。
    Zhè shǒu gē tīng qǐ lái hěn nán tīng.
    This song sounds very unpleasant.

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.

难nándifficult
听tīnghear

难 ('difficult') and 听 ('hear') together mean sounds or speech that are unpleasant to hear.

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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.

Open 听 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Good & BadSenses

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