電話

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)
simp. (电话)

Etymology

Wasei kango (()(せい)(かん)()), orthographically borrowed from Japanese (でん)() (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 [from 19th c.] (Classifier: 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
    電話电话  ―  Lái diànhuà le.  ―  The telephone is ringing.
    電話佔線电话占线  ―  Diànhuà zhànxiàn.  ―  The line is busy.
    時候電話 [MSC, trad.]
    时候电话 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ bù zài de shíhou, diànhuà xiǎng le. [Pinyin]
    The phone rang when you weren't here.
    麻煩接通書記辦公室電話 [MSC, trad.]
    麻烦接通书记办公室电话 [MSC, simp.]
    Máfan nín bāng wǒ jiētōng shūjì bàngōngshì de diànhuà, hǎo ma? [Pinyin]
    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 [from 20th c.] (Classifier: m mn;  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
    電話接通电话接通  ―  Diànhuà jiētōng le.  ―  The call has been put through.
    電話电话  ―  Wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.  ―  I'll give you a call.
    電話 [Cantonese, trad.]
    电话 [Cantonese, simp.]
    daa2 go3 din6 waa6-2 bei2 keoi5 [Jyutping]
    give them a call
  3. (colloquial) telephone number; phone number; number
    電話多少 [MSC, trad.]
    电话多少 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ de diànhuà shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]
    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, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore, 電話 / 电话 (diànhuà) now often refers to a mobile phone.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

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

See also

Further reading

Japanese

Kanji in this term
でん
Grade: 2

Grade: 2
goon kan'yōon

Alternative forms

  • (honorific, polite) 電話(でんわ) (o-denwa)

Etymology

Wasei kango, created as a translation of English telephone.[1] Coined in Japanese as a compound of Chinese-derived (den, electric) +‎ (wa, talking). See also 話す (hanasu, to talk, to chat).[1]

First attested in a text from 1891.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) んわ [dèńwá] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
  • IPA(key): [dẽ̞ɰ̃β̞a̠]
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

(でん)() • (denwa

  1. telephone [from 1891]
    電話(でんわ)()
    denwa o hiku
    to install a telephone
    電話(でんわ)()
    denwa ni deru
    to answer the phone
  2. telephone call, phone call, call
    電話(でんわ)()ける
    denwa o kakeru
    to make a call
    電話(でんわ)()かって()
    denwa ga kakatte kuru
    to receive a call
    電話(でんわ)()
    denwa o kiru
    to hang up

Derived terms

  • 電話(でんわ)() (denwa o kiru): to hang up
  • 携帯電話(けいたいでんわ) (keitaidenwa): a cellular [mobile] phone
  • 移動電話(いどうでんわ) (idōdenwa): a mobile telephone
  • 衛星電話(えいせいでんわ) (eiseidenwa): a satellite phone
  • 親子電話(おやこでんわ) (oyakodenwa): an extension telephone
  • 公衆電話(こうしゅうでんわ) (kōshūdenwa): a pay public phone
  • 青電話(あおでんわ) (aodenwa)
  • 赤電話(あかでんわ) (akadenwa)
  • アドオン電話(でんわ) (adoondenwa)
  • 糸電話(いとでんわ) (itodenwa): a string telephone
  • 脅迫電話(きょうはくでんわ) (kyōhakudenwa)
  • コードレス電話(でんわ) (kōdoresudenwa): a cordless phone
  • 国際電信電話(こくさいでんしんでんわ) (kokusaidenshindenwa)
  • 国際電話(こくさいでんわ) (kokusaidenwa): international phone (calls)
  • 市外電話(しがいでんわ) (shigaidenwa): a long-distance call
  • 自動車電話(じどうしゃでんわ) (jidōshadenwa): a car telephone
  • 卓上電話(たくじょうでんわ) (takujōdenwa)
  • 長距離電話(ちょうきょりでんわ) (chōkyoridenwa): a long distance call
  • 直通電話(ちょくつうでんわ) (chokutsūdenwa)
  • 通常加入電話(つうじょうかにゅうでんわ) (tsūjōkanyūdenwa)
  • テレビ電話(でんわ) (terebidenwa): a videophone
  • 転送電話(てんそうでんわ) (tensōdenwa)
  • 内線電話(ないせんでんわ) (naisendenwa)
  • 長電話(ながでんわ) (nagadenwa): a long telephone conversation
  • 無言電話(むごんでんわ) (mugondenwa): a silent call
  • 無線電話(むせんでんわ) (musendenwa)
  • ()()電話(でんわ) (yobidashidenwa)
  • 留守番電話(るすばんでんわ) (rusubandenwa): answering machine
  • 電話(でんわ)ボックス (denwabokkusu): a telephone booth[box]
  • 電話会社(でんわがいしゃ) (denwagaisha)
  • 電話回線(でんわかいせん) (denwakaisen)
  • 電話機(でんわき) (denwaki)
  • 電話局(でんわきょく) (denwakyoku)
  • 電話交換局(でんわこうかんきょく) (denwakōkankyoku)
  • 電話交換手(でんわこうかんしゅ) (denwakōkanshu)
  • 電話交換台(でんわこうかんだい) (denwakōkandai)
  • 電話口(でんわぐち) (denwaguchi)
  • 電話室(でんわしつ) (denwashitsu)
  • 電話世論調査(でんわせろんちょうさ) (denwaseronchōsa)
  • 電話線(でんわせん) (denwasen): a telephone wire
  • 電話中(でんわちゅう) (denwachū)
  • 電話帳(でんわちょう) (denwachō): a telephone book
  • 電話調査(でんわちょうさ) (denwachōsa)
  • 電話番号(でんわばんごう) (denwabangō): a telephone number
  • 電話網(でんわもう) (denwamō): a telephone net
  • 電話料(でんわりょう) (denwaryō)
  • 電話加入者(でんわかにゅうしゃ) (denwakanyūsha)
  • 悪戯電話(いたずらでんわ) (itazuradenwa): a prank call
  • 共同電話(きょうどうでんわ) (kyōdōdenwa): a party line
  • ダイヤル式電話(しきでんわ) (daiyarushikidenwa): a dial telephone
  • プッシュホン式電話(しきでんわ) (pusshuhonshikidenwa): a push-button telephone

Descendants

Verb

(でん)()する • (denwa surusuru (stem (でん)() (denwa shi), past (でん)()した (denwa shita))

  1. [from 1891] to make a phone call, to telephone, to call
    (かれ)電話(でんわ)するつもりだ。
    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. 1.0 1.1 1.2 電話”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

電話 • (jeonhwa) (hangeul 전화)

  1. hanja form? of 전화 (telephone)

Okinawan

Kanji in this term
でぃん
Grade: 2

Grade: 2

Noun

(でぃん)() (dinwa

  1. telephone

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Noun

電話

  1. chữ Hán form of điện thoại (telephone)