拨号 (bō hào) — to dial (a number)

Definition

拨号 means to dial a phone number (the action of entering digits to place a call). Pairs with 号码 ('number'); related to but distinct from 打电话 ('make a phone call'), which covers the whole act.

verb
to dial (a number)

Examples

  • 拨号，。
    Qǐng bō hào, wǒ mǎ shàng jiē diàn huà.
    Please dial — I'll answer the phone right away.
  • ，。
    Wǒ yǐ jīng bō le sān cì hào, dōu méi dǎ tōng.
    I've already dialed three times, and none went through.
  • 拨号。
    Nǐ yòng zhè ge hào mǎ bō hào shì shì.
    Try dialing with this number.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拨bōdial
号hàonumber

拨 means to dial and 号 means number, so the word means to dial a number.

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 撥; 拨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
發
發fā撥bō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 撥 combines 手 (hand) with 發, which gives the sound; the simplified 拨 is a different form.

Open 拨 →

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

  • 口口kǒumouth
  • 丂丂kǎoexhaled air; a tiger's cry

The shape 号 comes from 口, a mouth, and 丂, exhaled air or a tiger's cry.

Open 号 →
Appears in
Phones & Telecom

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