嗓门 (sǎng mén) — voice (volume or quality of speaking) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Refers to how loud someone's voice is — their volume — rather than what they say. Big 嗓门 = loud; used in phrases like 提高嗓门 (raise one's voice) or 压低嗓门 (lower one's voice).

noun

voice (volume or quality of speaking)

Examples

嗓门，。
Tā de sǎng mén hěn dà, zài lóu xià dōu néng tīng jiàn.
His voice is so loud you can hear it from downstairs.
嗓门。
Tā shēng qì dì tí gāo le sǎng mén.
She raised her voice angrily.
嗓门。
Zài tú shū guǎn lǐ shuō huà yào yā dī sǎng mén.
You should lower your voice when speaking in the library.

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.

门ménopening

嗓 is the throat and 门 is an opening, so 嗓门 refers to the voice.

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.

口桑嗓

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

桑

桑sāng嗓sǎng

Same sound today

嗓 pairs 口 (mouth) with 桑 (sāng), which gives the character its sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

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