叫
jiào · HSK 1
to be called
📣 口 mouth + 丩 (jiū) phonetic — the mouth that calls out
叫 combines 口 (mouth) on the left with 丩, an old phonetic component pronounced jiū. The mouth radical signals speech or sound; the right side hints at the jiào reading. Core sense: to call, shout, or be named.
叫 — mouth 口 + 丩 (phonetic)
叫 is a phono-semantic compound. The 口 (mouth) radical gives the meaning, since the word involves vocal action like shouting or calling. The right side 丩 supplies the sound, originally depicting twisted cords and used here purely as a phonetic marker.
jiào · HSK 1
to call
📣 叫 = 口 (mouth) + 丩 (twisting cry); sounds like 'jiao' = yell
The 口 radical on the left marks it as a mouth-action word. 丩 on the right was originally a phonetic for the sharp 'jiao' sound. So 叫 covers both shouting/crying out and the related sense of being called or named.
叫 — mouth 口 + 丩 (phonetic)
叫 is a phono-semantic compound. The 口 (mouth) radical gives the meaning, since the word involves vocal action like shouting or calling. The right side 丩 supplies the sound, originally depicting twisted cords and used here purely as a phonetic marker.