水声 (shuǐ shēng) — sound of water

Definition

noun
sound of water

Examples

  • 水声,。
    Shān gǔ lǐ chuán lái chán chán de shuǐ shēng, ràng rén xīn qíng píng jìng.
    The gurgling sound of water from the valley calms the mind.
  • 水声,。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de bèi jǐng yīn yuè yòng le hěn duō shuǐ shēng, hěn yǒu yì jìng.
    The background music of this movie uses a lot of sounds of water, creating a strong atmosphere.
  • ,淅沥水声。
    Bàn yè xǐng lái, wǒ zhī tīng jiàn chuāng wài xī lì de shuǐ shēng.
    Waking up in the middle of the night, I only heard the pattering sound of rain outside the window.

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.

水 names water, and 声 names sound, so the word means the sound of water.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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 →
Appears in

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