打听
dǎ ting · HSK 3
to ask around
👂❓ 打 (hit/do) + 听 (listen) = do-listening = ask around for info
Compound decomposition: 打 here means 'to do/perform an action' (as in 打电话 make a call), and 听 means 'listen'. Together: perform-listening, i.e. inquire or ask around to gather information.
打 — hand radical 扌 + nail 丁
打 combines the hand radical 扌 (action with the hand) with 丁 (originally a nail), suggesting striking or hitting with the hand. 丁 also serves as a phonetic hint in older readings. The meaning broadened from 'to strike' to a general verb for many hand-based actions, like 打电话 'make a phone call'.
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.