听
tīng · HSK 1
to listen
👂 听 = 口 (mouth) + 斤 (axe) — ear bends close to catch sound
Simplified 听 swapped the old 耳 (ear) radical for 口 (mouth); 斤 gives the tīng sound. Useful hook: tīng rhymes with English 'tin' — a tin can held to the ear to listen.
听 — mouth 口 + axe 斤 (simplified from 聽)
The traditional form 聽 combined 耳 (ear) with 王, 十, 目, and 心, depicting attentive listening with ear, eyes, and heart. The modern simplified 听 uses 口 (mouth) plus the phonetic 斤 (jīn), a much later shorthand. Despite the 'mouth' component, the meaning 'to listen, hear' was inherited from 聽.