About
The traditional character 驚, structurally built with the horse radical beneath a phonetic component, initially conveyed the specific sense of a horse being startled before its meaning gradually extended to encompass any sudden fear or surprise in a broader context. Its simplified counterpart 惊 substitutes the horse radical with the heart radical, thereby orienting the character more explicitly toward internal emotional experiences, while the component 京 on the right maintains a phonetic role. This alteration in form underscores a semantic progression from depicting a visible, physical reaction to emphasizing the psychological dimension of alarm, without departing from the fundamental notion of a sudden disturbance.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他非常惊讶。
这真是个惊喜！
别惊动其他人。
消息令人震惊。
他突然惊叫起来。
听到这个消息，她惊得说不出话。
他的表情十分惊愕。
尽管他试图保持冷静，但那个令人惊骇的景象还是让他的心跳骤然加速。