歌唱
gēchàng · HSK 6
sing
🎤 歌唱 = song (歌) + sing (唱); both characters mean sing
A compound where both halves carry the meaning: 歌 is song/to sing and 唱 is to sing/chant. Doubling reinforces the act of singing, like saying sing-sing. The 口 radical in 唱 marks it as a mouth action.
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'.
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.'