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交口 (Jiāo kǒu) — (verb) to converse, to chat

Definition

交口 literally means 'exchange mouths' and is a fairly literary/archaic verb meaning 'to chat, to converse.' It is rarer than the everyday 聊天 and has a written, almost set-phrase feel.

verb
to converseto chat

Examples

  • 交口。
    Tā men zuò zài gōng yuán lǐ Jiāo kǒu.
    They sat in the park and chatted.
  • 。
    Zuó wǎn wǒ hé lǎo péng you jiāo le yí cì kǒu.
    Last night I had a chat with an old friend.
  • 交口。
    Tā men Jiāo kǒu shí tán dào le hěn duō yǒu qù de shì.
    When they chatted, they talked about many interesting things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

交jiāoexchange
口kǒumouth/speech

“交” means to exchange, and “口” means mouth or speech; together they mean to converse.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

Open 交 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Open 口 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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