一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡

Traditional form:

一瓶子不響，半瓶子晃蕩

Pinyin (reading):

yīpíngzibùxiǎng,bànpíngzihuàngdang

Definitions:

• lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
• fig. empty vessels make the most noise

Characters:

• 一 - one; a, an; alone
• 瓶 - bottle, jug, pitcher, vase
• 子 - son, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thing
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 响 - to make noise, to make sound; sound
• 半 - half; semi-, incomplete
• 瓶 - bottle, jug, pitcher, vase
• 子 - son, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thing
• 晃 - bright, dazzling; to shake, to sway
• 荡 - pond, pool; ripple, shake; to wash away, to wipe out

Traditional characters:

• 一 - one; a, an; alone
• 瓶 - bottle, jug, pitcher, vase
• 子 - son, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thing
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 響 - to make noise, to make sound; sound
• 半 - half; semi-, incomplete
• 瓶 - bottle, jug, pitcher, vase
• 子 - son, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thing
• 晃 - bright, dazzling; to shake, to sway
• 蕩 - pond, pool; ripple, shake; to wash away, to wipe out