开腔 (kāi qiāng) — to start speaking, to begin to talk

Definition

'Start speaking, open one's mouth' — usually about beginning to say something after silence or hesitation. Often used in phrases like 还没开腔, 你倒是开腔啊 to urge someone to speak up.

verb
to start speakingto begin to talk
Easily confused

Examples

  • 开腔，。
    Tā hái méi kāi qiāng, wǒ jiù zhī dào tā yào shuō shén me.
    He hadn't even started talking yet, and I already knew what he was going to say.
  • ，。
    Tā kāi le qiāng, dà jiā jiù ān jìng le.
    Once he started talking, everyone fell silent.
  • ！
    Nǐ dǎo shì kāi gè qiāng a!
    Just say something, will you!

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāiopen
腔qiāngvoice/mouth

开 means open and 腔 refers to the voice or mouth, so it means starting to speak.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

腔 is made from 肉 (meat; flesh) plus 空 (empty; hollow), where 空 supplies the sound.

Open 腔 →

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