電話

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See also: 电话

Chinese

electric; electricity; electrical
spoken words; speech; dialect
spoken words; speech; dialect; language; talk; conversation; what someone said
 
trad. (電話) 電 話
simp. (电话) 电 话
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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 waa6-2 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

Derived terms

Descendants

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

See also

Further reading

Japanese

Kanji in this term
電 話
でん
Grade: 2 		わ
Grade: 2
goon kan'yōon

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Derived terms

Descendants

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

Conjugation of "電話する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 電話し でんわし denwa shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 電話し でんわし denwa shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 電話する でんわする denwa suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 電話する でんわする denwa suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 電話すれ でんわすれ denwa sure
Meireikei ("imperative") 電話せよ¹
電話しろ² 		でんわせよ¹
でんわしろ² 		denwa seyo¹
denwa shiro²
Key constructions
Passive 電話される でんわされる denwa sareru
Causative 電話させる
電話さす 		でんわさせる
でんわさす 		denwa saseru
denwa sasu
Potential 電話できる でんわできる denwa dekiru
Volitional 電話しよう でんわしよう denwa shiyō
Negative 電話しない でんわしない denwa shinai
Negative continuative 電話せず でんわせず denwa sezu
Formal 電話します でんわします denwa shimasu
Perfective 電話した でんわした denwa shita
Conjunctive 電話して でんわして denwa shite
Hypothetical conditional 電話すれば でんわすれば denwa sureba
¹ Written imperative

² Spoken imperative

References

  1. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
電話

Noun

電話 • (jeonhwa) (hangeul 전화)

  1. hanja form? of 전화 (“telephone”)

Okinawan

Kanji in this term
電 話
でぃん
Grade: 2 		わ
Grade: 2

Noun

電(でぃん)話(わ) (dinwa) 

  1. telephone

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
電話

Noun

電話

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