鸣 (míng): to cry (of birds, animals and insects), to make a sound, to voice (one's gratitude, grievance etc)
鸣 (míng) is a Chinese character meaning “to cry (of birds, animals and insects).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (structural) and 鸟 (structural). It ranks #1667 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 鸣 the sound 口 a bird 鸟 makes. Its radical form 鸟 (bird) appears in many related characters such as 鸡 (jī, chicken), 鸟 (niǎo, bird), 鸭 (yā, duck).
Definitions
- to cry (of birds, animals and insects)
- to make a sound
- to voice (one's gratitude, grievance etc)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe sound 口 a bird 鸟 makes
Decomposition: ⿰口鸟 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 鸣 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 共鸣verb | gòng míng | (physics) to resonate |
| 雷鸣verb | léi míng | thunder rolls |
| 自鸣得意phrase | zì míng dé yì | to think highly of oneself |
| 鸣枪verb | míng qiāng | to fire warning shots |
| 鸣笛verb | míng dí | to hoot |
| 一鸣惊人phrase | yī míng jīng rén | to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat (idiom) |
| 奏鸣曲noun | zòu míng qǔ | sonata |
| 轰鸣verb | hōng míng | boom (sound of explosion) |
| 鸣叫verb | míng jiào | to emit a sound |
| 蜂鸣器 | fēng míng qì | buzzer |
| 耳鸣noun | ěr míng | tinnitus |
| 悲鸣verb | bēi míng | to utter a mournful cry |
| 鸣谢verb | míng xiè | to express gratitude (esp. in public) |
| 鸟鸣 | niǎo míng | birdsong |
| 哀鸣verb | āi míng | (of animals, the wind etc) to make a mournful sound |
鸣 appears in 57 compound words: 32 as the first character, 39 as the last, and 30 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 鸣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (17)
contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought; to let a hundred schools of thought contend
injustice provokes outcry; where there is injustice, there will be protest
contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought; to let a hundred schools of thought contend
injustice provokes outcry; where there is injustice, there will be protest
Showing 12 of 17 idioms containing 鸣.
Example Sentences
鸣字由8笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
míng zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "鸣" consists of eight strokes and has a very clever structure.
观点争鸣丨昔日“陆战之王”将何去何从
guàn diǎn zhēng míng 丨 xī rì lù zhàn zhī wáng jiāng hé qù hé cóng
Opinions dispute丨Where will the former "king of land warfare" go?
林一鸣:北都发展计划仍停留于“规划、规划、再规...
lín yī míng : běi dōu fā zhǎn jì huá réng tíng liú yú guī huá , guī huá , zài guī . . .
Lin Yiming: The development plan of the Northern Capital is still stuck in "planning, planning, re-planning...
宏福苑|管浩鸣关注收购尺价逾万元点计?黄伟纶:支援少少...
hóng fú 苑 guǎn hào míng guān zhù shōu gòu chǐ jià yú wàn yuán diǎn jì ? huáng wěi 纶 : zhī yuán shǎo shǎo . . .
Guan Haoming pays attention to the purchase price of more than 10,000 yuan? Huang Weilun: A little support...
金牌,苏翊鸣送给自己最好的生日礼物!
jīn pái , sū 翊 míng sòng gěi zì jǐ zuì hǎo de shēng rì lǐ wù !
Gold medal, Su Yiming gave himself the best birthday gift!
我要为你演奏一首奏鸣曲。
Wǒ yào wèi nǐ yǎnzòu yī shǒu zòumíngqǔ.
I'll play a sonata for you.
蟋蟀的叫声与蛙鸣催我入眠。
Xīshuài de jiàoshēng yǔ wā míng cuī wǒ rùmián.
The sound of crickets chirping and frogs croaking lulls me to sleep.
闪电常常伴随着雷鸣。
Shǎndiàn chángcháng bànsuí zhe léimíng.
Lightning is usually followed by thunder.
面包比鸟的鸣唱好。
Miànbāo bǐ niǎo de míng chàng hǎo.
A loaf of bread is better than the songs of birds.
齐里听到山谷里传来摩托车的轰鸣声。
Qí lǐ tīngdào shāngǔ lǐ chuánlái mótuōchē de hōngmíng shēng.
Ziri heard the sound of a motorcycle echoing in the valley.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 鸣 (míng) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 鸣?
What characters sound the same as 鸣 (míng)?
Is 鸣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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