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口气 (kǒu qì) — (noun) tone of voice, manner of speaking; (in 口气大/不小) boastful talk, exaggeration

Definition

口气 (kǒu qì) is a noun meaning 'tone of voice' in the sense of someone's attitude or manner when speaking — and in 口气大 it means boastful talk. Compare 语气 (more about grammar/mood) and 声调 (the pitch of a syllable, or intonation).

noun
tone of voicemanner of speaking(in 口气大/不小) boastful talkexaggeration

Examples

  • 口气，。
    Tīng tā shuō huà de kǒu qì, hǎo xiàng duì zhè jiàn shì hěn bù mǎn.
    From the way she speaks, it seems she's quite dissatisfied with this matter.
  • 口气。
    Nǐ zhè zhǒng kǒu qì ràng wǒ hěn bù shū fu.
    This tone of yours makes me very uncomfortable.
  • 口气，。
    Tā de kǒu qì zhēn bù xiǎo, jū rán shuō zì jǐ néng dāng shàng zǒng tǒng.
    He really talks big—he actually claims he can become president.

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.

口kǒumouth
气qìbreath

口 (mouth) and 气 (breath) suggest the breath and tone of speaking.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech

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