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电话 (diàn huà) — telephone (device); phone call; phone number

Definition

电话 covers both the phone device and a phone call/number — a broad everyday word. 手机 is the modern mobile phone; use 通话 for the act of talking on the phone.

noun
telephone (device)phone callphone number
Measure word · 部, 通

Examples

  • 电话。
    Wǒ dǎ le yí gè diàn huà.
    I made a phone call.
  • 电话。
    Zhè ge diàn huà hěn hǎo.
    This telephone is very good.
  • 电话。
    Wǒ de diàn huà shì yī èr sān sì wǔ liù.
    My phone number is 123456.

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.

电diànelectricity
话huàspeech

电 supplies the sense of electricity and 话 means speech, together describing a telephone.

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 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
申
申shēn電diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Open 电 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
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