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亲口 (qīn kǒu) — (adv.) with one's own mouth (to say, tell, admit); (adv.) personally (to taste, eat)

Definition

Adverb meaning 'with one's own mouth' or 'personally' — emphasizes the speaker/doer is the source of the speech or action (telling, admitting, tasting). Used before verbs like 告诉, 承认, 尝.

adverb
(adv.) with one's own mouth (to say, tell, admit)(adv.) personally (to taste, eat)

Examples

  • 亲口，。
    Zhè shì tā qīn kǒu gào sù wǒ de, bú huì yǒu cuò.
    He told me this himself — it can't be wrong.
  • 亲口。
    Nǐ qīn kǒu cháng yí xià jiù zhī dào zhè tāng yǒu duō xiān le.
    Taste it yourself and you'll know how fresh this soup is.
  • 亲口。
    Tā dāng zhòng qīn kǒu chéng rèn le zì jǐ de cuò wù.
    He publicly admitted his mistake with his own mouth.

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.

亲qīnpersonal/own
口kǒumouth

亲 means personal or own, and 口 means mouth, so 亲口 is done through one's own mouth.

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 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

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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