唱歌
chànggē · HSK 1
sing
🎤🎵 唱歌 = chàng (sing) + gē (song); literally 'sing-song'
唱 (chàng) means to sing or chant — the 口 radical on the left marks it as a mouth action. 歌 (gē) means song. Together they form the verb-object compound 'to sing songs'.
唱 — mouth 口 + 昌 (bright/prosperous, phonetic)
唱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The mouth radical 口 signals an action done with the voice, while 昌 supplies the sound and originally meant 'bright' or 'flourishing.' Together they came to mean 'to sing' or 'lead in chanting,' extending to 'call out' or 'proclaim.'
歌 — 哥 (phonetic 'gē') + 欠 (open mouth)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 欠 depicts a person with an open mouth, supplying the meaning of singing or vocalizing. The left side 哥 gives the sound 'gē'. Together they form the verb and noun for 'song' or 'to sing'.