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鸣笛 (míng dí) — to sound a horn or whistle (on vehicles, trains, etc.)

Definition

A verb meaning to sound a horn or whistle, used for vehicles and trains. Often appears as 鸣笛 + 次/声 to count the blasts, as in 鸣了几声笛.

verb
to sound a horn or whistle (on vehicles, trains, etc.)

Examples

  • ，鸣笛。
    Qián fāng xué xiào, qǐng wù míng dí.
    School zone ahead, please do not sound your horn.
  • 。
    Huǒ chē jìn zhàn shí míng le yí cì dí.
    The train gave one whistle as it entered the station.
  • 。
    Sī jī zháo jí dì míng le jǐ shēng dí.
    The driver urgently honked a few times.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

鸣míngsound
笛díwhistle/horn

The 'sound' sense and 'whistle/horn' sense combine to mean sounding a horn.

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 鳴; 鸣 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 鳴 combines 口 (mouth) and 鳥 (bird) to show a bird crying.

Open 鸣 →

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
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu笛dí
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

笛 pairs 竹 (bamboo) with 由 as a sound part. The bamboo part shows the object is made of bamboo.

Open 笛 →
Appears in
Roads & Traffic

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