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搭理 (dā lǐ) — to acknowledge, to respond to, to take notice of (usually in negative contexts)

Definition

搭理 (dāli) means 'to acknowledge or pay attention to someone,' used mostly in negative or questioning sentences like 不搭理 or 谁搭理. The 'variant of 答理' gloss is just a character-form note, not a meaning.

verb
to acknowledgeto respond toto take notice of (usually in negative contexts)

Examples

  • ，搭理。
    Wǒ gēn tā dǎ zhāo hu, tā gēn běn bù dā lǐ wǒ.
    I greeted him, but he completely ignored me.
  • ，搭理。
    Tā shēng wǒ de qì le, liǎng tiān méi dā lǐ wǒ.
    She's mad at me and hasn't spoken to me for two days.
  • 搭理？
    Shuí dā lǐ nǐ zhè zhǒng wú liáo de huà?
    Who would pay attention to such boring talk from you?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

搭dāphonetic variant of 答
理lǐpay attention

搭 writes the sound of the answering idea, and 理 adds paying attention, together meaning acknowledge or respond.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
荅
荅dá搭dā
Same sound today

搭 is built from 扌, a hand, and 荅, which gives the sound. The hand part points to actions done with the hand.

Open 搭 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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