笑声 (xiào shēng) — laughter; sound of laughing | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

laughtersound of laughing

Examples

笑声。
Cóng fáng jiān lǐ chuán lái le yí zhèn xiào shēng.
A burst of laughter came from the room.
笑声。
Tā de xiào shēng ràng dà jiā dōu jué de hěn kuài lè.
His laughter made everyone feel very happy.
笑声。
Hái zi tiān zhēn de xiào shēng ràng rén gǎn dào wēn nuǎn.
The child's innocent laughter makes people feel warm.

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.

笑 gives laugh and 声 gives sound, together naming the sound of laughing.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

艸

艸cǎo笑xiào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

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.

殸耳聲

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.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings

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