呢喃 (ní nán) — (noun) the twittering or chirping of swallows;… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary onomatopoeia for soft, murmuring sound: the twittering of swallows, or a person's quiet whisper to themselves.

noun

the twittering or chirping of swallowsa soft murmurwhisperor muttering (of a person)

Examples

，呢喃。
Chūn tiān lái le, yàn zi zài wū yán xià ní nán.
Spring has come, and the swallows are twittering under the eaves.
，呢喃。
Tā zuò zài chuāng biān, zuǐ lǐ bù tíng dì ní nán zhe shén me.
She sat by the window, softly murmuring something to herself.
呢喃，。
Fēng shēng zhōng jiā zá zhe yàn zi de ní nán, shí fēn dòng tīng.
The wind carries the twittering of swallows — it's very pleasant to hear.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

呢 and 喃 carry no separate meaning here; the form suggests soft whispering or bird twittering.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口尼呢

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

尼

尼ní呢ní

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

呢 combines 口 (mouth) with 尼 as its sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口南喃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

南

Same sound today

喃 pairs 口 (mouth) with 南, which gives the sound nán.

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