TongTong
Sign in

炮声 (pào shēng) — sound of cannonade; sound of artillery fire

Definition

noun
sound of cannonadesound of artillery fire
Measure word · 阵

Examples

  • 炮声。
    Yuǎn chù chuán lái le zhèn zhèn pào shēng.
    The sound of cannonade came from afar in bursts.
  • 炮声。
    Zhàn shì men zài pào shēng zhōng yǒng gǎn chōng fēng.
    The soldiers charged bravely amid the sound of artillery fire.
  • 炮声，。
    Tā tīng dào pào shēng, zhī dào zhàn dòu yǐ jīng kāi shǐ le.
    He heard the sound of cannonade and knew the battle had already begun.

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.

炮pàocannon
声shēngsound

炮 is the cannon, and 声 is the sound it makes, so the word means the sound of artillery.

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
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo炮pào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

Open 炮 →

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
Military & Defense

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.