欢笑声 (huān xiào shēng) — the sound of joyful laughter; laughter (as an ambient sound)

Definition

A compound noun meaning the sound of happy laughter — typically used for laughter heard as an ambient sound (from a room, a crowd, children playing), not for a single person's laugh.

noun
the sound of joyful laughterlaughter (as an ambient sound)
Measure word · 阵

Examples

  • 欢笑声。
    Jiào shì lǐ chōng mǎn le huān xiào shēng.
    The classroom was filled with the sound of joyful laughter.
  • 欢笑声。
    Yuǎn chù chuán lái hái zi men de huān xiào shēng.
    The sound of children's joyful laughter came from afar.
  • 欢笑声，。
    Wǎn huì shàng huān xiào shēng bú duàn, qì fen fēi cháng rè nao.
    At the party, joyful laughter never stopped, and the atmosphere was very lively.

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.

欢笑joyful laughter
欢huānjoy笑xiàolaugh
偏正Modifier + head
声shēngsound

欢笑 is joyful laughter, and 声 means sound, so together they name the sound of laughter.

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 歡; 欢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn歡huān
Same sound today

The traditional form 歡 uses 雚 for the sound and 欠 for the meaning; the simplified 欢 is a later shorthand, so its parts do not carry that history.

Open 欢 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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 →

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