叨念 (dāo niàn) — to chatter incessantly; to nag; to keep thinking or worrying about (someone or something)

Definition

叨念 (dāoniàn) means to nag someone repeatedly or to keep turning something over in your mind — the focus is on the persistent repetition, not on anger or scolding.

verb
to chatter incessantlyto nagto keep thinking or worrying about (someone or something)

Examples

  • 叨念，。
    Mā ma zǒng ài dāo niàn wǒ, ràng wǒ duō chuān diǎn yī fu.
    Mom always nags me to put on more clothes.
  • 叨念，。
    Nǐ bié dāo niàn le, wǒ zhī dào le.
    Stop going on about it — I know.
  • 叨念。
    Tā yì zhí zài xīn lǐ dāo niàn zhe yuǎn fāng de ér zi.
    She's been constantly worrying about her son far away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

叨dāochatter
念niànthink

叨 (chatter) and 念 (think) combine to mean keep talking or worrying.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
刀
刀dāo叨dāo
Same sound today

叨 combines 口, the mouth part, with 刀, the sound part.

Open 叨 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

念 combines 今, an upside-down mouth, with 心, the heart, to listen to one's heart.

Open 念 →

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