骚 (sāo) — (bound form) to harass, to disturb; (bound form) lascivious, coquettish (especially of women in literary contexts)
Definition
骚 (sāo) is a bound morpheme: in 骚扰 it means 'to harass / disturb', and in literary or colloquial phrases like 骚气 / 风骚 it means 'coquettish, flirtatious' (of women). Don't use it as a stand-alone word.
bound form
to harassto disturblasciviouscoquettish (especially of women in literary contexts)
Examples
- 。Nà ge liú máng yì zhí zài sāo rǎo tā.That hooligan kept harassing her.
- ，。Jiào shì lǐ tū rán yí piàn sāo dòng, yuán lái yǒu rén dǎ jià le.Suddenly there was a commotion in the classroom; it turned out someone was fighting.
- 骚。Tā shuō huà de yàng zi yǒu jǐ fēn sāo qì.The way she spoke had a hint of coquettishness.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 騷; 骚 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
蚤
蚤zǎo騷sāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 騷 pairs 馬 (horse) with 蚤 as a sound component; the simplified 骚 is a shorthand.
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