吵chǎo

吵

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

The character 吵 (chǎo, "noisy, to make a racket") is identical in simplified and traditional forms. It combines the mouth radical 口 with 少 (few, small), suggesting the image of many small mouths chattering noisily — a character that captures the chaos of argument and uproar in its very structure.

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Shuowen

吵. The left side is the mouth radical 口, indicating sound, while the right side is 少, which serves as a phonetic component; together they depict many mouths raising a clamor, the original meaning of the character. In oracle bone inscriptions the combination already appears, showing a group of mouths (口) with a small (少) element to suggest a noisy dispute. The character is written this way because it conveys the idea of many voices making a din, with 少 providing the pronunciation.

Pinyin

chǎo· HSK 2

吵chǎo

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin