聊 liáo chat
怎么记住“聊”: 耳 ear + 卯 mortise = chat. Fixing a door, the carpenter presses his ear to the mortise and hears the two neighbours chat about his prices.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
聊 = 耳 ear + 卯 mortise
- 耳 ear meaning
- 卯 mortise sound
Fixing a door, the carpenter presses his ear to the mortise and hears the two neighbours chat about his prices.
How it came to be
The ear gives the meaning and mortise the sound; the word once meant a ringing in the ears.
用法
- In modern Mandarin this means "to chat": 聊天 (liáotiān) / 聊天儿 (liáotiānr) to chat. The gloss "somewhat/slightly" is classical and essentially dead in speech.
- 聊 for chatting is casual and warm: 我们聊聊吧 (wǒmen liáoliáo ba) let's have a chat, softer than 谈话 (tánhuà), which sounds formal/official.
- 无聊 (wúliáo) = bored/boring, or pointless: 好无聊 (hǎo wúliáo) so boring. Note it covers both "I'm bored" and "that's silly/meaningless."
含“聊”的词语
例句
- 他们在聊天。 Tāmen zài liáotiān.They are chatting.
- 学习数学很无聊。 Xuéxí shùxué hěn wúliáo.Studying Math is very boring.