嘟哝 (dū nong) — to mumble to oneself

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning to mumble quietly to oneself, with the speech often unclear. Common in spoken Chinese for complaints or muttering rather than clear speech.

verb
to mumble to oneself

Examples

  • 嘟哝。
    Tā yí gè rén zuò zài jiǎo luò lǐ dū nong zhe shén me.
    He sat alone in the corner mumbling something to himself.
  • 嘟哝，。
    Bié dū nong le, yǒu huà dà shēng shuō.
    Stop mumbling — if you have something to say, say it out loud.
  • 嘟哝。
    Tā yì biān kàn shū yì biān dī shēng dū nong.
    She was reading a book while mumbling softly to herself.

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.

嘟dū
哝nóng

The characters 嘟 and 哝 carry no meaning of their own here; together they express mumbling.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 嘟 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 噥; 哝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
農
農nóng噥nóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 噥 pairs 口, a mouth, with 農, the sound part; the simplified 哝 is a later shorthand.

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