麦克风 màikèfēng microphone
(loanword) microphone
How to remember 麦克风: 麦 wheat + 克 gram + 风 wind = microphone.
Characters
How it is used
- Phonetic loanword for microphone - 拿着麦克风 (názhe màikèfēng) holding a mic; often shortened to 麦 (mài) in speech, as in 抢麦 grab the mic.
- The characters are sound-only (麦=wheat, 克=subdue, 风=wind) - don't read meaning into them.
- The native alternative 话筒 (huàtǒng) is equally common, especially in mainland spoken use.
Example sentences
- 探头配有麦克风。 Tàntóu pèiyǒu màikèfēng.The probe is equipped with a microphone.