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电话铃 (diàn huà líng) — telephone ring (sound)

Definition

noun
telephone ring (sound)
Measure word · 阵

Examples

  • 电话铃。
    Wǒ tīng dào diàn huà líng xiǎng le.
    I heard the phone ring.
  • 电话铃。
    diàn huà líng Chǎo xǐng le shuì jiào de hái zi.
    The phone ring woke up the sleeping child.
  • 电话铃。
    Tā de shǒu jī diàn huà líng hěn dà shēng.
    His phone's ring is very loud.

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diànelectric话huàspeech
偏正Modifier + head
铃língbell

电话 (telephone) plus 铃 (bell) gives the bell or ringing sound of 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 →

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 鈴; 铃 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng鈴líng
Same sound today

The traditional form 鈴 pairs 金 (metal) with 令 as a sound part; the simplified 铃 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 铃 →
Appears in
Phones & Telecom

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