转告
zhuǎn gào · HSK 4
to pass on
📞 转 = turn/relay + 告 = tell; relay-tell = pass the message along
转 carries the sense of transferring or relaying (same 转 as in 转发 forward), and 告 means to inform or announce (as in 告诉). Together: relay-inform, i.e. pass on a message from one person to another.
转 — car radical 车 + 专 (phonetic)
转 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 车 (cart/wheel) gives the meaning, evoking something that turns or rotates like a wheel. The right side 专 supplies the sound. Originally referring to the turning of a cart's wheels, it broadened to mean 'turn,' 'rotate,' or 'shift' in general.
告 — ox 牛 (top) + mouth 口
Originally a pictograph showing an ox with something on its head, possibly a yoke or sacrificial marker, combined with 口 (mouth) to suggest announcing or reporting. The character came to mean 'to tell' or 'to announce,' as in making a formal declaration. Today it commonly appears in words like 告诉 (to tell) and 报告 (report).