ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

to call / to be named / to shout

jiào
5 strokes · 口 (mouth) + 丩 (phonetic) · HSK 1

Where 叫 comes from

叫 = 口 (mouth) + 丩 (a twisting shape, for the sound). Anything you do with a raised voice carries the mouth radical, so 叫 means to call out, to shout — and, gently, 'to be called / named'.

叫 in Chinese culture

叫 powers the single most useful sentence for a beginner: 你叫什么名字? — literally 'you are-called what name?' = 'What's your name?' You answer 我叫… (I'm called…). 叫 also means to shout or to summon: 叫他 (call him over), and even animal sounds — a dog 叫 (barks). With 叫, 什么, and 名字 (all now learned), you can introduce yourself to anyone in China.

Example

jiào — to be called

你叫什么名字?
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What's your name?

How to remember it

A mouth (口) calling out — to CALL, to be NAMED.

你叫什么名字? ('What are you called?') is THE first sentence to learn in China. Answer: 我叫… With 叫 + 什么 + 名字, you can now ask and answer it.

Same sound, different tones

1st jiāo
to hand over
3rd jiǎo
horn / angle
4th jiào
to call

Words unlocked by 叫

你叫什么? Nǐ jiào shénme?
What are you called?
我叫… wǒ jiào…
I'm called…
LEARN 叫 WITH STROKE-BY-STROKE WRITING → DOWNLOAD ZHIZHI
One character a morning · 169-character HSK library · iOS