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心里话 (xīn lǐ huà) — innermost thoughts and feelings; what one truly thinks in one's heart

Definition

心里话 are the thoughts and feelings you keep private — what you'd say if you opened your heart. Always used with 说 / 聊 / 听; it implies honesty and vulnerability, not just any inner thought.

noun
innermost thoughts and feelingswhat one truly thinks in one's heart
Measure word · 句

Examples

  • 心里话。
    Tā zhōng yú gǔ qǐ yǒng qì duì wǒ shuō le xīn lǐ huà.
    He finally plucked up the courage to tell me his innermost thoughts.
  • 心里话。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi duō hé jiā rén liáo liáo xīn lǐ huà.
    We should talk more often with our family about what's in our hearts.
  • 心里话，。
    Zhè xiē dōu shì wǒ de xīn lǐ huà, xī wàng nǐ lǐ jiě.
    These are all my innermost feelings; I hope you can understand.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

心里inside the heart
心xīnheart里lǐinside
偏正Modifier + head
话huàwords

心 is heart, 里 is inside, and 话 is speech, together meaning words from inside the heart.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ裡lǐ
Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Open 里 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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