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聊天儿 (liáo tiān r) — to chat, to have a chat

Definition

聊天儿 (liáotiānr) is the casual, everyday verb 'to chat' — a relaxed two-way conversation with friends, often online or by phone. It is more chatty and less general than 说话 ('to speak/talk'), and more neutral than 八卦 ('gossip').

verb
to chatto have a chat

Examples

  • 聊天儿。
    Wǒ men wǎn shàng yì qǐ liáo tiān r ba.
    Let's chat together tonight.
  • 聊天儿。
    Tā xǐ huan zài wēi xìn shàng gēn péng you liáo tiān r.
    He likes to chat with friends on WeChat.
  • 。
    Wǒ men liáo le yí huì r tiān r.
    We chatted for a while.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

聊天chat
聊liáochat天tiānsky
动宾Verb + object
儿érerhua

聊天 gives the chatting idea, and 儿 makes it sound light and colloquial.

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
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
卯
卯mǎo聊liáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

聊 shows 耳 (ear) beside 卯, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was tinnitus.

Open 聊 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
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