唤回 (huàn huí) — to call back, to summon back

Definition

唤回 means to call or summon something back that has gone away — a person, an animal, or even a memory or feeling. Less abstract than 召回 (recall a product/deploy a person officially).

verb
to call backto summon back

Examples

  • 唤回。
    Mǔ qīn zài mén kǒu dà shēng huàn huí tān wán de hái zi.
    The mother called back her playful child loudly at the door.
  • ，唤回。
    Tā chuī le yī shēng kǒu shào, zhōng yú huàn huí le zǒu shī de gǒu.
    He whistled and finally called back the lost dog.
  • 唤回。
    Zhè zhāng lǎo zhào piàn huàn huí le tā duì gù xiāng de jì yì.
    This old photo brought back his memories of his hometown.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

唤huàncall
回huíback

Calling brings someone back to the original place.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 喚; 唤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
奐
奐huàn喚huàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 喚 pairs 口 (mouth) with 奐, which gives the pronunciation; the simplified 唤 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 唤 →

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

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

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