声讨 (shēng tǎo) — to denounce; to condemn

Definition

verb
to denounceto condemn

Examples

  • 声讨。
    Tā men gōng kāi shēng tǎo zhèng fǔ de fǔ bài xíng wéi.
    They publicly denounced the government's corruption.
  • 声讨。
    Huì shàng dài biǎo men yí zhì shēng tǎo le zhè zhǒng bào lì xíng wéi.
    At the meeting, the representatives unanimously condemned this violent behavior.
  • 声讨。
    Rén mín shēng tǎo qīn lüè zhě de cán kù zuì xíng.
    The people denounced the cruel crimes of the invaders.

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.

声shēngvoice
讨tǎodenounce

声 voice or announcement and 讨 denounce combine: denounce by public statement.

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 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
殸
殸qìng聲shēng
Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Open 声 →

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 討; 讨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
肘
肘zhǒu討tǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 討 pairs 言 (speech) with a shortened form of 肘 for sound; an old reading took 言 plus 寸 (hand) as 'rectify'. The simplified 讨 is a shorthand, so its parts are not historical components.

Open 讨 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.