电话局 (diàn huà jú) — telephone exchange, telephone office

Definition

noun
telephone exchangetelephone office
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 电话局。
    Wǒ jiā fù jìn de diàn huà jú yǐ jīng guān mén le.
    The telephone office near my home has already closed.
  • 电话局。
    Tā zài diàn huà jú gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
    She has worked at the telephone exchange for many years.
  • 电话局。
    Zhè ge diàn huà jú fù zé zhěng gè chéng shì de cháng tú diàn huà.
    This telephone office handles all long-distance calls in the city.

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.

电话telephone
电diànelectricity话huàtalk
偏正Modifier + head
局júoffice

电话 names the telephone, and 局 gives an office, yielding the telephone exchange.

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 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
句
句jù局jú
Same sound today

The shape of 局 pairs 尸, a meaning part, with 句, a sound part.

Open 局 →

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