话音 (huà yīn) — the sound or tone of someone's voice; implication, hint hidden in words

Definition

Literally 'speech-sound' — covers both the audible quality of someone's voice (tone, manner) and the hidden implication behind their words. The implication sense is the distinctive one; use 声音 for pure sound, 语气 for tone/attitude alone.

noun
the sound or tone of someone's voiceimplicationhint hidden in words

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā de huà yīn hěn wēn róu, dà jiā dōu xǐ huan tīng tā shuō huà.
    Her voice is very gentle; everyone likes hearing her speak.
  • 话音，。
    Cóng huà yīn zhōng, wǒ gǎn jué dào tā bú tài gāo xìng.
    From his tone, I felt he wasn't very happy.
  • 话音，？
    Tā huà lǐ yǒu huà yīn, nǐ tīng chū lái le ma?
    There's an implication in his words — did you catch it?

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.

话huàspeech
音yīnsound

话 refers to speech or words, and 音 refers to sound; together they mean the sound of someone speaking.

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 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 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →

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