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宣读 (xuān dú) — to read out (a formal document, statement, etc.) to an audience

Definition

宣读 (xuāndú) means to read aloud a formal, prepared document (verdicts, proclamations, decrees) to an audience. Unlike 朗读 or 朗诵, which involve expressive or literary reading, 宣读 is official and ceremonial.

verb
to read out (a formal document, statement, etc.) to an audience

Examples

  • 宣读。
    Zhǔ xí zài dà huì shàng xuān dú le zhòng yào wén jiàn.
    The chairman read out an important document at the conference.
  • 宣读。
    Fǎ guān zài fǎ tíng shàng xuān dú le pàn jué shū.
    The judge read out the verdict in court.
  • 宣读。
    Xiào zhǎng zài kāi xué diǎn lǐ shàng xuān dú le xīn shēng míng dān.
    The principal read out the list of new students at the opening ceremony.

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.

宣xuānproclaim
读dúread aloud

The 宣 brings the sense of proclaiming and the 读 is reading aloud, giving the idea of reading a text to an audience.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
亘
亘gèn宣xuān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

宣 pairs the roof 宀, pointing to the emperor's main hall, with 亘 as the sound part. From that hall meaning, it came to mean clear or evident.

Open 宣 →

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 讀; 读 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánto say
Sound part声符shēngfú
𧶠
𧶠𧶠讀dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 讀 is made of 言 ('to say') and 𧶠 (giving the sound); this description is about 讀, not 读.

Open 读 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & Speech

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