公用电话亭 (gōng yòng diàn huà tíng) — public phone booth

Definition

noun
public phone booth
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 公用电话亭。
    Wǒ zài jiē jiǎo zhǎo dào le yí gè gōng yòng diàn huà tíng.
    I found a public phone booth at the street corner.
  • ，公用电话亭。
    Tā dǎ bù tōng shǒu jī, jiù qù gōng yòng diàn huà tíng dǎ diàn huà le.
    He couldn't get through on his mobile, so he went to the public phone booth to call.
  • 公用电话亭。
    Xiàn zài de gōng yòng diàn huà tíng yuè lái yuè shǎo le.
    Public phone booths are becoming rarer these days.

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.

公用public use
公gōngpublic用yònguse
偏正Modifier + head
电话telephone
电diànelectric话huàspeech
偏正Modifier + head
亭tíngbooth

公用 and 电话 together describe a public telephone, and 亭 is the booth.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

用 was formed by adding a handle to an earlier form.

Open 用 →

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 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
申
申shēn電diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Open 电 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 亭 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.