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Definition 2025

語

語

See also: 语

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

語 (radical 149 言+7, 14 strokes, cangjie input 卜口一一口 (YRMMR), four-corner 01661, composition ⿰訁吾)

References

  • KangXi: page 1163, character 8
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35533
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1628, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3974, character 9
  • Unihan data for U+8A9E

Chinese

trad. 語
simp. 语

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 語
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (五) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
吾 *ŋraː, *ŋaː
衙 *ŋraː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
鼯 *ŋaː
浯 *ŋaː
珸 *ŋaː
郚 *ŋaː
齬 *ŋaː, *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
鯃 *ŋaː
娪 *ŋaː
梧 *ŋaː
峿 *ŋaː
五 *ŋaːʔ
伍 *ŋaːʔ
寤 *ŋaːs
啎 *ŋaːs
晤 *ŋaːs
悟 *ŋaːs
逜 *ŋaːs
窹 *ŋaːs
捂 *ŋaːs
鋙 *ŋa, *ŋaʔ
語 *ŋaʔ, *ŋas
圄 *ŋaʔ
敔 *ŋaʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ŋaʔ, *ŋas) : semantic 言 + phonetic 吾 ‎(OC *ŋraː, *ŋaː).

As the original form of 語 (吾) was borrowed for other meanings, a new character was created to represent the original meaning of 吾. This new character was created by combining the original character with the semantic element 言.

Pronunciation 1

Rime
Character 語
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 魚 (22)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 魚巨切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ŋɨʌX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ŋiɔX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ŋiɔX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ŋɨə̆X/
Li
Rong		 /ŋiɔX/
Wang
Li		 /ŋĭoX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ŋi̯woX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 yǔ
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 語
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 yǔ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ ngjoX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ŋ(r)aʔ/
English speak

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 語
Reading # 1/2
No. 13159
Phonetic
component		 五
Rime
group		 魚
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 語
Old
Chinese		 /*ŋaʔ/

Definitions

語

  1. to speak; to say
  2. (of an animal) to chirp; to hoot
  3. speech; language
  4. (linguistics) language
  5. expression; words
  6. saying; proverb; set phrase
  7. movement or signal which transmits information
  8. chirping; tweet

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Rime
Character 語
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 魚 (22)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 牛倨切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ŋɨʌH/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ŋiɔH/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ŋiɔH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /ŋɨə̆H/
Li
Rong		 /ŋiɔH/
Wang
Li		 /ŋĭoH/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ŋi̯woH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 yù
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 語
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 yù
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ ngjoH ›
Old
Chinese		 /*ŋ(r)aʔ-s/
English tell

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 語
Reading # 2/2
No. 13165
Phonetic
component		 五
Rime
group		 魚
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 御
Old
Chinese		 /*ŋas/

Definitions

語

  1. † to tell; to inform

Japanese

Kanji

語

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. A word.
  2. Speech.
  3. Language.
  4. A term.

Readings

Compounds

Suffix

語 ‎(hiragana ご, romaji -go)

  1. language of, -ese, -ish
    日 (に)本 (ほん)語 (ご)‎ ― Nihongo ― Japanese
    英 (えい)語 (ご)‎ ― Eigo ― English
    スペイン語 (ご)‎ ― Supeingo ― Spanish

Korean

Hanja

語 • ‎(eo) (hangeul 어, McCune-Reischauer ŏ, Yale e)
  1. language of, -ese, -ish

Vietnamese

Han character

語 (ngữ, ngứ)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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