说话声 (shuō huà shēng) — sound of someone speaking; spoken voice

Definition

The sound of someone talking — voices or noise of speech heard from a distance, as in 听到说话声. More concrete than 声音 ('sound' in general); the focus is specifically on human speech.

noun
sound of someone speakingspoken voice

Examples

  • 说话声。
    Wǒ qīng chǔ dì tīng dào wài miàn de shuō huà shēng.
    I clearly heard the sound of people talking outside.
  • 说话声。
    Jiào shì lǐ de shuō huà shēng tài dà le.
    The noise of conversation in the classroom is too loud.
  • 说话声。
    Tā tīng jiàn zǒu láng yǒu shuō huà shēng.
    He heard voices in the corridor.

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.

说话speak
说shuōspeak话huàwords
动宾Verb + object
声shēngsound

说话 means 'speak' and 声 means 'sound', forming the sound of 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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →

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 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

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.

Open 声 →

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