静静 (jìng jìng) — quiet, silent, calm, peaceful

Definition

静静 is a reduplicated bound adverbial form meaning 'quietly / silently' — it almost always appears with 地 before a verb (静静地…) to describe how an action is done. Use it for the manner of an action, not to describe a person's state.

bound form

quietsilentcalmpeaceful

Examples

，。
Yè shēn le, jiē dào shàng jìng jìng de.
It's late at night, the streets are quiet.
，。
Tā jìng jìng de zuò zài chuāng qián, kàn zhe wài miàn de fēng jǐng.
He sat quietly by the window, looking at the scenery outside.
，。
Zài jìng jìng de yè wǎn, zhǐ néng tīng dào chóng míng.
In the quiet night, you can only hear the chirping of insects.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

静jìngquiet

静 (quiet) doubled gives a calm, silent state.

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 靜; 静 is its simplified writing.

青爭靜

青青qīng
爭爭zhēng

The traditional form 靜, not the simplified 静, uses 青 and 爭 for sound; an old source also treats 青 (blue) as a meaning part.

Open 静 →