还魂 (huán hún) — to revive after death; to come back to life

Definition

Literary/classical verb meaning 'to revive after death, return as a ghost.' Most common in mythology and folklore (e.g. 借尸还魂); rare in everyday modern speech.

verb

to revive after deathto come back to life

Examples

，还魂。
Tā sǐ le yǐ hòu, jū rán huán hún le.
After he died, he actually came back to life.
，。
Zài shén huà zhōng, zhè ge yīng xióng hái guò yí cì hún.
In mythology, this hero revived once after death.
还魂。
Zhè zhǒng lǎo gē zuì jìn yòu huán hún le.
This kind of old song has recently come back into fashion.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

还háireturn

魂húnsoul

还 means to return and 魂 means the soul, so the word pictures the soul coming back to life.

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 還; 还 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

睘

睘qióng還hái

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

The traditional form 還 pairs 辵 (walk) with 睘 as a sound part for 'go back; return'; the simplified 还 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 还 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

云鬼魂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鬼鬼guǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

云

云yún魂hún(r)

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

魂 is made from 鬼, the ghost component, plus 云, which supplies the sound.

Open 魂 →

Appears in