言語

言語

See also: 言语

Chinese

		to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word	speech; language; dialect speech; language; dialect; tell to
trad. (言語)		言	語
simp. (言语)		言	语
anagram		語言／语言

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yányǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˊ ㄩˇ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): янйү (i͡anyü, I-II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jin⁴ jyu⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngièn-ngî / ngiàn-ngî
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): giân-gú / giân-gír / gân-gí / giân-gí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ngang⁵ ghe²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yányǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˊ ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yányǔ
    • Wade–Giles: yen²-yü³
    • Yale: yán-yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yanyeu
    • Palladius: яньюй (janʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn³⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: янйү (i͡anyü, I-II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iæ̃²⁴ y⁵¹/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jin⁴ jyu⁵
    • Yale: yìhn yúh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jin⁴ jy⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yin⁴ yu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːn²¹ jyː¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngièn-ngî
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngienˇ ngi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian² ngi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ɲi̯en¹¹ ɲi²⁴/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiàn-ngî
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngianˇ ngi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian² ngi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ɲi̯an¹¹ ɲi²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: giân-gú
    • Tâi-lô: giân-gú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gien'guo
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡiɛn²⁴⁻¹¹ ɡu⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ɡiɛn²⁴⁻²² ɡu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: giân-gír
    • Tâi-lô: giân-gír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡiɛn²⁴⁻²² ɡɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gân-gí
    • Tâi-lô: gân-gí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gan'gie
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɡan¹³⁻²² ɡi⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: giân-gí
    • Tâi-lô: giân-gí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gien'gie
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡiɛn²³⁻³³ ɡi⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ngang⁵ ghe²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ngâng gṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋaŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ ɡɯ⁵²/

---

• Middle Chinese: /ŋɨɐn  ŋɨʌ^X/

Rime
Character	言	語
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	元 (65)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	語軒切	魚巨切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋɨɐn/	/ŋɨʌX/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋiɐn/	/ŋiɔX/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiɐn/	/ŋiɔX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋɨan/	/ŋɨə̆X/
Li Rong	/ŋiɐn/	/ŋiɔX/
Wang Li	/ŋĭɐn/	/ŋĭoX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋɨ̯ɐn/	/ŋi̯woX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yán	yǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jin4	jyu5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ŋa[n]  ŋ(r)aʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ŋan  ŋaʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	言	語
Reading #	3/4	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yán	yǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjon ›	‹ ngjoX ›
Old Chinese	/*ŋa[n]/	/*ŋ(r)aʔ/
English	speak; speech	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	言	語
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	14271	13159
Phonetic component	言	五
Rime group	元	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	言	語
Old Chinese	/*ŋan/	/*ŋaʔ/

Noun

言語

1. speech; spoken language

   • 一日不讀書，言語無味；三日不讀書，便覺面目可憎。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     一日不读书，言语无味；三日不读书，便觉面目可憎。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Song dynasty, Huang Tingjian

     Yī rì bù dúshū, yányǔ wúwèi; sān rì bù dúshū, biàn jué miànmùkězēng. [Pinyin]

     Not studying for a day, my speech becomes dull; Not studying for three days, my looks become repulsive.

   • 惟調查各方店名俱托本地之人而查本地之店名間有言語不同譯音因之亙異如福建雲南與廣東言語不同譯音亦因之不同三邑與四邑言語畧異而譯者亦間有稍別 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     惟调查各方店名俱托本地之人而查本地之店名间有言语不同译音因之亘异如福建云南与广东言语不同译音亦因之不同三邑与四邑言语略异而译者亦间有稍别 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1913, International Chinese Business Directory of the World for the Year 1913 (《萬國寄信便覽》), page 999

     wai⁴ diu⁶ caa⁴ gok³ fong¹ dim³ ming⁴ geoi¹ tok³ bun² dei⁶ zi¹ jan⁴ ji⁴ caa⁴ bun² dei⁶ zi¹ dim³ ming⁴ gaan¹ jau⁵ jin⁴ jyu⁵ bat¹ tung⁴ jik⁶ jam¹ jan¹ zi¹ gang² ji⁶ jyu⁴ fuk¹ gin³ wan⁴ naam⁴ jyu⁵ gwong² dung¹ jin⁴ jyu⁵ bat¹ tung⁴ jik⁶ jam¹ jik⁶ jan¹ zi¹ bat¹ tung⁴ saam¹ jap¹ jyu⁵ sei³ jap¹ jin⁴ jyu⁵ loek⁶ ji⁶ ji⁴ jik⁶ ze² jik⁶ gaan¹ jau⁵ saau² bit⁶ [Jyutping]

     However, investigating the names of stores in each place is left to locals, and in between investigating the names of stores, their speech is not the same, and because of this, transcriptions continuously differ, such as Fuhkien, Yunnan, and Canton having different speech, and transcriptions also being different because of this. The speech of the Three Counties and the Four Counties are largely different, and there are also slight differences between translators.

   • 經初查，向某林（男，24歲）和吳某濤（男，20歲）在列車上拍攝小視頻，發出「臥倒」等言語，引發周圍乘客慌亂。 [MSC, trad.]
     经初查，向某林（男，24岁）和吴某涛（男，20岁）在列车上拍摄小视频，发出“卧倒”等言语，引发周围乘客慌乱。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2019 May 17, 深圳公交公安 on 微博

     Jīng chū chá, Xiàng Mǒulín (nán, 24 suì) hé Wú Mǒutāo (nán, 20 suì) zài lièchēshàng pāishè xiǎoshìpín, fāchū “wòdǎo” děng yányǔ, yǐnfā zhōuwéi chéngkè huāngluàn. [Pinyin]

     According to initial investigations, Xiang *-lin (male, 24) and Wu *-tao (male, 20) were shooting a short video in the train, and said things such as "lie down", inducing panic in surrounding passengers.

Synonyms

edit

口舌 (kǒushé) 腔 (qiāng) (literary, or in compounds) 說的話／说的话 (shuō de huà)

話／话 (huà) 話語／话语 (huàyǔ) 語言／语言 (yǔyán)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yányu, yányǔ, yuányi, niányu

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˊ ˙ㄩ, ㄧㄢˊ ㄩˇ, ㄩㄢˊ ˙ㄧ, ㄋㄧㄢˊ ˙ㄩ

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngièn-ngî / ngiàn-ngî

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yányu
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˊ ˙ㄩ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yányů
    • Wade–Giles: yen²-yü⁵
    • Yale: yán-yu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yan.iu
    • Palladius: яньюй (janʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn³⁵ y³/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yányǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˊ ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yányǔ
    • Wade–Giles: yen²-yü³
    • Yale: yán-yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yanyeu
    • Palladius: яньюй (janʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn³⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, colloquial Beijing dialect variant)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yuányi
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ ˙ㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yuányi̊
    • Wade–Giles: yüan²-i⁵
    • Yale: ywán-yi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuan.i
    • Palladius: юаньи (juanʹi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛn³⁵ i³/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, colloquial variant from other Mandarin dialects)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niányu
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄢˊ ˙ㄩ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: niányů
    • Wade–Giles: nien²-yü⁵
    • Yale: nyán-yu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nian.iu
    • Palladius: няньюй (njanʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /njɛn³⁵ y³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngièn-ngî
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngienˇ ngi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian² ngi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ɲi̯en¹¹ ɲi²⁴/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiàn-ngî
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngianˇ ngi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian² ngi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ɲi̯an¹¹ ɲi²⁴/

Verb

言語

1. (colloquial Mandarin, Hakka) to speak; to say a word

   他一聲不言語就走了。 [MSC, trad.]
   他一声不言语就走了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yīshēng bù yányu jiù zǒu le. [Pinyin]

   He left without saying anything.

   你怎麼不言語？／你怎么不言语？  ―  Nǐ zěnme bù yányu?  ―  Why aren't you saying anything?

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 說話 (“to speak; to talk”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		說話, 講話
Mandarin	Beijing	說話, 言語
	Taiwan	說話, 講話
	Yantai (Muping)	說話
	Jinan	說話
	Wanrong	說話, 言傳
	Xi'an	說話
	Lanzhou	說話
	Ürümqi	說話
	Wuhan	說話
	Chengdu	說話, 開腔
	Yangzhou	講話, 說話
	Nanjing	講話, 說話
	Hefei	講話
	Malaysia	講話, 說話
	Singapore	講話, 說話
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	說話
Cantonese	Guangzhou	講說話, 講話
	Hong Kong	講嘢, 講說話
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	講話
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	講嘢
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	講話
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	講嘢
	Kaiping (Chikan)	講話
	Dongguan	講嘢, 講話
	Shenzhen (Dapeng)	講嘢
	Yangjiang	講事話, 講話
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	講話, 講說話
	Singapore (Guangfu)	講話, 講說話
Gan	Nanchang	話事
	Lichuan	話事
	Pingxiang	講事, 話事
Hakka	Meixian	講話, 講事, 話事
	Xingning	話事
	Huidong (Daling)	話事
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	講話
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	講話
	Wengyuan	講話
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	話事
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	話事
	Liannan	講話
	Jiexi	講話
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	講話
	Changting	話事
	Wuping	講話
	Wuping (Yanqian)	話事
	Wuping (Pingyu)	講話
	Liancheng	話事, 講事
	Ninghua	話事
	Yudu	話事
	Ningdu	話事
	Ruijin	話事
	Shicheng	話事
	Shangyou (Shexi)	話事
	Tonggu (Sandu)	話事
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	話事
	Dayu	話事
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	講話
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	講話
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	講話
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	講話, 講事
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	講話
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	講事
	Hong Kong	講話
	Yangxi (Tangkou)	講話
	Yangchun (Sanjia)	講話
	Xinyi (Sihe)	講話
	Xinyi (Qianpai)	講話
	Gaozhou (Xindong)	講話
	Maoming (Shalang, Dianbai)	講話
	Huazhou (Xin'an)	講話
	Lianjiang (Shijiao)	講話
	Lianjiang (Qingping)	講話
	Mengshan (Xihe)	講話
	Senai (Huiyang)	講話
Huizhou	Jixi	講話
	Shexian	講話
	Tunxi	講話
	Xiuning	講話
	Yixian	講話
	Qimen	講話
	Wuyuan	講話
Jin	Taiyuan	說話
Min Bei	Jian'ou	話事
	Jian'ou (Dikou)	話事
	Songxi	話事
	Zhenghe	話事
	Zhenghe (Zhenqian)	話事, 講事
	Jianyang	話事
	Wuyishan	話事
	Pucheng (Shibei)	話事
Min Dong	Fuzhou	講話
	Changle	講話
	Lianjiang	講話
	Fuqing	講話
	Pingtan	講話
	Yongtai	講話
	Minqing	講話
	Gutian	講話
	Pingnan	講話
	Luoyuan	講話
	Fu'an	講話
	Ningde	講話
	Xiapu	講話
	Zherong	講話
	Shouning	講話
	Zhouning	講話
	Fuding	講話
	Matsu	講話
Min Nan	Xiamen	講話
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	講話
	Quanzhou	說話, 講話
	Jinjiang	講話, 說話
	Nan'an	說話
	Shishi	講話, 說話
	Hui'an	說話
	Anxi	說話
	Yongchun	說話, 講話
	Dehua	說話
	Zhangzhou	講話
	Zhangzhou (Longhai)	講話
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	講話
	Hua'an	講話
	Nanjing	講話
	Pinghe	講話
	Zhangpu	講話
	Yunxiao	講話
	Zhao'an	呾話, 講話
	Dongshan	講話, 沫話
	Tainan	講話
	Kinmen	講話
	Singapore (Hokkien)	講話
	Manila (Hokkien)	講話, 說話
	Longyan	講話
	Zhangping	講話
	Datian	講話
	Chaozhou	呾話
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	呾話
	Jieyang	呾話
	Haifeng	講話
	Bangkok (Teochew)	呾話
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	呾話
	Singapore (Teochew)	呾話
	Wenchang	講話
	Haikou	講話
	Singapore (Hainanese)	講話
Puxian Min	Putian	講話
	Xianyou	講話
Min Zhong	Yong'an	話事
	Sanyuan	話事
	Shaxian	話事
Zhongshan Min	Sanxiang	講話
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	講話
Wu	Shanghai	講閒話, 說話
	Suzhou	講閒話
	Danyang	講話
	Ningbo	講閒話, 講說話, 話說話
	Wenzhou	講話, 講說話
	Jinhua	講水話, 講話
Xiang	Changsha	講話
	Shuangfeng	話話, 講話

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (言語):

• → Japanese: 言(げん)語(ご) (gengo)
• → Korean: 언어(言語) (eoneo)
• → Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ (言語)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
言	語
げん Grade: 2	ご Grade: 2
kan’on	goon

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) げ​んご [géꜜǹgò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɡẽ̞ŋɡo̞]

Noun

言(げん)語(ご) • (gengo) ^{←げんご (gengo)?}

1. language, speech
2. (linguistics) langue

   Synonym: ラング (rangu)

   Antonym: 言 (gen)

Derived terms

• 言(げん)語(ご)運(うん)用(よう) (gengo un'yō)
• 言(げん)語(ご)学(がく) (gengogaku, “linguistics”)
• 言(げん)語(ご)活(かつ)動(どう) (gengo katsudō)
• 言(げん)語(ご)過(か)程(てい)説(せつ) (gengo kateisetsu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)起(き)源(げん)論(ろん) (gengo kigenron)
• 言(げん)語(ご)芸(げい)術(じゅつ) (gengo geijutsu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)ゲーム (gengo gēmu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)行(こう)為(い) (gengo kōi)
• 言(げん)語(ご)行(こう)動(どう) (gengo kōdō)
• 言(げん)語(ご)社(しゃ)会(かい)学(がく) (gengo shakaigaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)障(しょう)害(がい) (gengo shōgai)
• 言(げん)語(ご)心(しん)理(り)学(がく) (gengo shinrigaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)生(せい)活(かつ) (gengo seikatsu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)政(せい)策(さく) (gengo seisaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)相(そう)対(たい)説(せつ) (gengo sōtaisetsu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)地(ち)図(ず) (gengo chizu)
• 言(げん)語(ご)中(ちゅう)枢(すう) (gengo chūsū)
• 言(げん)語(ご)聴(ちょう)覚(かく)士(し) (gengo chōkakushi)
• 言(げん)語(ご)地(ち)理(り)学(がく) (gengo chirigaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)治(ち)療(りょう)士(し) (gengo chiryōshi)
• 言(げん)語(ご)哲(てつ)学(がく) (gengo tetsugaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)島(とう) (gengotō)
• 言(げん)語(ご)能(のう)力(りょく) (gengo nōryoku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)美(び)学(がく) (gengo bigaku)
• 言(げん)語(ご)分(ぶん)析(せき) (gengo bunseki)
• 言(げん)語(ご)問(もん)題(だい) (gengo mondai)
• 言(げん)語(ご)遊(ゆう)戯(ぎ) (gengo yūgi)
• 言(げん)語(ご)療(りょう)法(ほう)士(し) (gengo ryōhōshi)
• 言(げん)語(ご)連(れん)想(そう)法(ほう) (gengo rensōhō)
• 言(げん)語(ご)論(ろん)的(てき)転(てん)回(かい) (gengoron-teki tenkai)
• 計(けい)算(さん)機(き)言(げん)語(ご) (keisanki gengo, “computer language”)
• 多(た)言(げん)語(ご)話(わ)者(しゃ) (tagengo washa, “polyglot”)
• プログラミング言(げん)語(ご) (puroguramingu gengo, “programming language”)
• メタ言(げん)語(ご) (meta-gengo, “metalanguage”)

 

Idioms

• 言(げん)語(ご)に絶(ぜっ)する (gengo ni zessuru)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
言	語
ごん Grade: 2	ご Grade: 2
goon

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ご​んご [góꜜǹgò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɡõ̞ŋɡo̞]

Noun

言(ごん)語(ご) • (gongo) ^{←ごんご (gongo)?}

1. (obsolete, Buddhism) language, speech

Derived terms

• 言(ごん)語(ご)道(どう)断(だん) (gongo dōdan)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
言	語
げん Grade: 2	ぎょ Grade: 2
kan’on

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) げ​んぎょ [géꜜǹgyò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɡẽ̞ŋʲɡʲo̞]

Noun

言(げん)語(ぎょ) • (gengyo) ^{←げんぎよ (gengyo)?}

1. (obsolete) language, speech

References

1. 2011, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Seventh Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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Korean

Hanja in this term
言	語

Noun

言語 • (eoneo) (hangeul 언어)

1. Hanja form^? of 언어 (“language”).

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Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
言	語

Noun

言語

1. chữ Hán form of ngôn ngữ (“language”).