吼叫 (hǒu jiào) — to roar, to shout, to howl

Definition

A vivid verb for animal or human loud, fierce vocal sounds — roars, howls, angry shouts. More intense and animal-like than the everyday 喊 or 叫.

verb

to roarto shoutto howl

吼叫。
Tā fèn nù dì hǒu jiào.
He roared angrily.
吼叫。
Shī zi fā chū yī shēng hǒu jiào.
The lion let out a roar.
吼叫。
Bàn yè lǐ wǒ tīng dào le láng de hǒu jiào.
In the middle of the night, I heard a wolf howling.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

吼 and 叫 both describe loud vocalization, so together they mean to roar or shout.

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.

口孔吼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

孔

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

吼 combines 口 (mouth) with 孔, which gives the character its sound. The mouth part shows the roar or growl is made by the mouth.

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

口丩叫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

丩

丩jiū叫jiào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

叫 shows a mouth 口 and a sound part 丩. The mouth fits the old sense of shouting.

Appears in