静听 (jìng tīng) — to listen quietly (without speaking or interrupting)

Definition

静听 (jìng tīng) is a literary verb meaning 'to listen in silence' — focused, quiet listening rather than casual hearing. Stronger and more written than 听 (tīng), it carries the nuance of attentive stillness.

verb
to listen quietly (without speaking or interrupting)

Examples

  • 静听。
    Tā zuò zài chuāng qián jìng tīng yǔ shēng.
    He sat by the window listening quietly to the rain.
  • 静听。
    Shàng kè shí wǒ men yào jìng tīng lǎo shī jiǎng kè.
    During class we need to listen quietly to the teacher's lecture.
  • ，静听。
    Yīn yuè huì kāi shǐ le, dà jiā dōu jìng jìng de jìng tīng.
    The concert began, and everyone listened quietly.

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.

静jìngquiet
听tīnglisten

静听 joins 静 (quiet) and 听 (listen) to mean listening without making sound.

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 靜; 静 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 靜, not the simplified 静, uses 青 and 爭 for sound; an old source also treats 青 (blue) as a meaning part.

Open 静 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.

Open 听 →

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