Several parts combine into one character.

鳴 is a compound ideograph of 口 (mouth) and 鳥 (bird) — a bird (鳥) crying with its mouth (口). Its meaning is transparently visible. The 鳥 (bird) seen earlier sits right inside it.

The simplified form is 鸣, with 鳥 reduced to the simplified bird 鸟 — the form splits by mode.

Korean hanja-sound "myeong": 共鳴 (gongmyeong, resonance), 悲鳴 (bimyeong, a scream), 自鳴鐘 (jamyeongjong, an alarm clock), 耳鳴 (imyeong, tinnitus). From a bird's cry the meaning broadened to all "sounding, ringing."

Mandarin: míng, 2nd tone. 鸣叫 (míngjiào, to chirp), 共鸣 (gòngmíng, resonance), 鸣笛 (míngdí, to sound a horn), 一鸣惊人 (yìmíng-jīngrén, "to startle people with a single cry" — to make a name overnight). Japanese: on-reading メイ (mei), kun な.く (naku), な.る (naru), な.らす (narasu). 鳴く (naku, to cry), 悲鳴 (himei, a scream), 共鳴 (kyōmei, resonance), 雷鳴 (raimei, thunder). An animal's cry is 鳴く (naku) in Japanese — 鳥が鳴く (a bird cries).

Memory aid: a bird (鳥) crying with its mouth (口) — from a cry to all sounding.