Kilo Lingo

(diàn huà) - telephone, phone call in Mandarin

diànhuà

Traditional: 電話

Line drawing of 电话
Coloured illustration of 电话
HSK 1
#295 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

telephone, phone call

Word origin

The word 电话 combines 电 'electricity' with 话 'speech', literally 'electric speech', the term coined for the telephone. 电 (traditional 電) depicts lightning with the 雨 (rain) element; 话 has the 言 (speech) radical.

Origin
compound
Root
电 (diàn, electricity: 雨 rain element) + 话 (huà, speech: 言 speech radical)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 电

Stroke order for 话

Examples

Call me.

What is the phone number?

I received a phone call.

Mum is on the phone.

Please leave your phone number.

电话 (diàn huà) means telephone, phone call. It is used as a noun in everyday Mandarin speech.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 6.