接听
jiē tīng · HSK 7
to answer the phone
📞 接听 = 接 receive/connect + 听 listen = pick up and listen to the call
接 means to receive or connect, 听 means to listen. Together they describe connecting the call and listening — answering the phone. 听 also appears in 听力 (listening comprehension).
接 — hand 扌 + concubine 妾 (phonetic)
接 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 carries the meaning of receiving or joining with the hand, while 妾 supplies the sound. From 'taking with the hand' it broadened to 'receive, meet, connect, join together'.
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.