声 shēng — sound, voice · English

声

shēng

sound, voice

At a glance · 声

Listen

Audio is synthesized in your browser: Mandarin for the character and Shuowen text, native voices for every translation. No downloads.

Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

声字小篆从耳殸声（繁體聲），为形声字；本义为声音、声响。甲骨文象击磬闻声之形。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

声本义为声音、声响，亦指音乐。

Structure

形声字，下部『耳』为意符（闻），右部『殸』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinshēng

Radical士

Strokes7

UnicodeU+58F0

Character type形声

Theme礼乐

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English sound, voice Sheng is a phonetic-semantic character meaning sound and voice.

Français son, voix Sheng est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant son et voix.

Español sonido, voz Sheng es un carácter fonosemántico que significa sonido y voz.

العربية صوت شينغ حرف صوتي دلالي يعني الصوت.

Русский звук, голос Шэн — фоносемантический знак, означающий звук и голос.

Common words

声音shēng yīnsound
回声huí shēngecho

◉ Listen