電話

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 電話 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 電話 (Cantonese)
• 電話 (Classical)
• 電話 (Gan)
• Thien-fa (Hakka)
• Diêng-uâ (Eastern Min)
• Tiān-ōe (Southern Min)
• 电话 (Wu)

Etymology

Wasei kango (和製漢語), orthographically borrowed from Japanese 電(でん)話(わ) (denwa) (Liu et al., 1984; Huang, 2020), first attested in 《遊歷日本圖經》 by Fu Yunlong in 1889 (Huang, 2020).

Pronunciation

Noun

電話

1. (countable) telephone; phone (Classifier: 部 m c)

   電話民調／电话民调  ―  diànhuà míndiào  ―  telephone poll

   車載電話／车载电话  ―  chēzài diànhuà  ―  vehicular telephone

   來電話了。／来电话了。  ―  Lái diànhuà le.  ―  The telephone is ringing.

   電話佔線。／电话占线。  ―  Diànhuà zhànxiàn.  ―  The line is busy.

   你不在的時候，電話響了。 [MSC, trad.]
   你不在的时候，电话响了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ bù zài de shíhou, diànhuà xiǎng le.

   The phone rang when you weren't here.

   麻煩您幫我接通書記辦公室的電話，好嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
   麻烦您帮我接通书记办公室的电话，好吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Máfan nín bāng wǒ jiētōng shūjì bàngōngshì de diànhuà, hǎo ma?

   Could you please connect me to the secretary's office?

   公共電話／公共电话 [Hokkien]  ―  kong-kiōng tiān-ōe [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  public telephone

2. (countable) telephone call; phone call; call (Classifier: 通 m mn; 個／个 m c)

   接通電話／接通电话  ―  jiētōng diànhuà  ―  to connect a call

   騷擾電話／骚扰电话  ―  sāorǎo diànhuà  ―  nuisance call

   電話接通了。／电话接通了。  ―  Diànhuà jiētōng le.  ―  The call has been put through.

   我給你打電話。／我给你打电话。  ―  Wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.  ―  I'll give you a call.

   打個電話俾佢 [Cantonese, trad.]
   打个电话俾佢 [Cantonese, simp.]

   daa² go³ din⁶ waa^6-2 bei² keoi⁵

   give them a call

3. (colloquial) telephone number; phone number; number

   你的電話是多少？ [MSC, trad.]
   你的电话是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ de diànhuà shì duōshǎo?

   What's your phone number?

Usage notes

Note that in Mandarin, the noun 電話／电话 (diànhuà, “telephone”) is used in any verb involving a phone, such as 打電話／打电话 (dǎ diànhuà, “to make a phone call”), 回電話／回电话 (huí diànhuà, “to call back”), 接電話／接电话 (jiē diànhuà, “to answer the phone”), etc.

In Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, 電話／电话 (diànhuà) often refers to a mobile phone in many contexts.

Synonyms

• (telephone): (chiefly Taishanese, dated) 喊線／喊线; (chiefly Wu, dated) 德律風／德律风 (délǜfēng)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Bouyei: dianqhuaq
• → Lü: ᦶᦎᧃᧈᦧᦱᧈ (ṫaen¹ẋwaa¹)
• → Zhuang: denva

See also

• 大哥大 (dàgēdà)
• 手機／手机 (shǒujī)

Further reading

• “Entry #10333”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
• Chia, Caroline, Hoogervorst, Tom, editors (2021), “Chapter 5 Native Lexical Innovation in Penang Hokkien: Thinking beyond Rojak”, in Sinophone Southeast Asia: Sinitic Voices across the Southern Seas (Chinese Overseas: History, Literature, and Society; 20 )‎, Brill, →ISBN, page 177: “Sino-Japanese words for some of these new things – such as tiān-ōa 電話 ‘telephone’ – did make their way into Penang Hokkien”

Japanese

Alternative forms

• (honorific) お電話(でんわ) (o-denwa)

Etymology

Wasei kango, from 電 (den, “electric”) +‎ 話 (wa, “conversation”). See also 話す (hanasu).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) でんわ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

電(でん)話(わ) • (denwa) 

1. telephone

   電話(でんわ)を引(ひ)く

   denwa o hiku

   to install a telephone

   電話(でんわ)に出(で)る

   denwa ni deru

   to answer the phone

2. telephone call; phone call; call

   電話(でんわ)を掛(か)ける

   denwa o kakeru

   to make a call

   電話(でんわ)が掛(か)かって来(く)る

   denwa ga kakatte kuru

   to receive a call

   電話(でんわ)を切(き)る

   denwa o kiru

   to hang up

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Amis: tingwa, dingwa
• → Atayal: renwa'
• → Bunun: ding-ua, zing-ua
• → Chinese: 電話／电话 (diànhuà)
• → Kavalan: dingwa
• → Korean: 전화 (jeonhwa)
• → Okinawan: 電話 (でぃんわ, dinwa)
• → Paiwan: dingwa
• → Pingelapese: dengiwa
• → Pohnpeian: dengwa
• → Puyuma: dingwa
• → Rukai: dingwa, dinva
• → Taroko: dengwa
• → Tsou: tenva
• → Vietnamese: điện thoại
• → Yami: dingwa

Verb

電(でん)話(わ)する • (denwa suru) suru (stem 電(でん)話(わ)し (denwa shi), past 電(でん)話(わ)した (denwa shita))

1. to make a phone call; to telephone; to call

Usage notes

• In order to imply whom one is calling as is done in English with the preposition to in make a phone call to or by the objective case as him in the sentence I called him, the Japanese use に (ni):

  私(わたし)は彼(かれ)に電話(でんわ)するつもりだ。

  Watashi wa kare ni denwa suru tsumori da.

  I'm going to call him.

Conjugation

References

Korean

Noun

電話 • (jeonhwa) (hangeul 전화)

1. Hanja form^? of 전화 (“telephone”).

Okinawan

Noun

電(でぃん)話(わ) (dinwa) 

1. telephone

Vietnamese

Noun

電話

1. chữ Hán form of điện thoại (“telephone”).