哭叫 (kū jiào) — to cry out, to wail | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A vivid verb combining crying (哭) and shouting (叫), used for loud, emotional wailing — distress, grief, or panic. Stronger and noisier than plain 哭.

verb

to cry outto wail

，哭叫。
Hái zi shòu le jīng xià, bù tíng dì kū jiào.
The child was frightened and kept crying out.
，哭叫。
Tīng dào è hào, tā fàng shēng kū jiào.
Hearing the bad news, she burst into loud wails.
哭叫。
Zhàn chǎng shàng dào chù dōu shì kū jiào de shēng yīn.
The battlefield was filled with the sounds of crying and shouting.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

哭 cry and 叫 shout are parallel, together meaning to cry out or wail.

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

吅吅xuānto speak loudly

Sound part声符shēngfú

獄

獄yù哭kū

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

Early 哭 showed 吅, loudly, above a long-haired person; that lower part later became dog-like shapes. Later, 哭 was analyzed as 吅 plus 獄 for sound.

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