名声
míng shēng · HSK 7
reputation
📣 名 (name) + 声 (sound/voice) = the sound your name makes = reputation
名 means name or fame; 声 means sound or voice. Your 名声 is how loudly your name sounds out across a crowd: your reputation. Pronunciation míng shēng even starts with the m of name.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.
声 — 士 scholar/warrior on top + 尸-like form + components (simplified from 聲)
声 is the simplified form of 聲, which originally depicted a hanging stone chime (殸) being struck, with 耳 'ear' below to show hearing. The full form combined the sound-making instrument and the act of listening, meaning 'sound' or 'voice'. The modern simplified 声 keeps only the upper portion.