腔

qiāng

月 + 空

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

qiāng (noun) cavity; hollow space in body

qiāng (noun) accent; tone of speech

qiāng (noun) tune; melody

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 空 represents the sound.

Semantic: ⺼ Phonetic: 空

About

The character 腔 is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 月 (⺼ 'flesh') points to the body, while the phonetic 空 (kōng) supplies the sound and also conveys the idea of emptiness or hollowness. Its primary anatomical meaning is a hollow space or cavity within a body, such as the chest cavity or oral cavity. This later extended into music and speech, where 腔 refers to a vocal tone, accent, tune, or a person's specific pitch, drawing a metaphorical link between the resonance of bodily cavities and the production of sound.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

口腔健康很重要。

Kǒuqiāng jiànkāng hěn zhòngyào.

Oral health is very important.

他说话带有北方腔调。

Tā shuōhuà dài yǒu běifāng qiāngdiào.

He speaks with a northern accent.

医生用听诊器检查胸腔。

Yīshēng yòng tīngzhěnqì jiǎnchá xiōngqiāng.

The doctor uses a stethoscope to examine the chest cavity.

腹腔手术需要专业医生。

Fùqiāng shǒushù xūyào zhuānyè yīshēng.

Abdominal cavity surgery requires a specialist.

她的腔调听起来很温柔。

Tā de qiāngdiào tīng qǐlái hěn wēnróu.

Her tone sounds very gentle.

保持口腔清洁可以预防疾病。

Bǎochí kǒuqiāng qīngjié kěyǐ yùfáng jíbìng.

Maintaining oral cleanliness can prevent diseases.

胸腔和腹腔之间由横膈膜分隔。

Xiōngqiāng hé fùqiāng zhī jiān yóu hénggémó fēngé.

The chest cavity and abdominal cavity are separated by the diaphragm.

这种腔肠动物的身体结构很简单。

Zhè zhǒng qiāngcháng dòngwù de shēntǐ jiégòu hěn jiǎndān.

The body structure of this coelenterate is very simple.

Related Characters

Component: 月

Component: 空

腔