牙牙学语 (yá yá xué yǔ) — (idiom) to babble (of an infant learning to speak); (figurative) to be at the very beginning (of learning something)
Definition
Literal picture of a baby babbling their first words ('ya-ya'), so the idiom means 'at the very beginning of learning something.' Often used figuratively for a novice's earliest, clumsy attempts.
idiom
to babble (of an infant learning to speak)(figurative) to be at the very beginning (of learning something)
Examples
- 牙牙学语，。Bǎo bao zhèng chǔ zài yá yá xué yǔ de jiē duàn, měi tiān dōu shuō gè bù tíng.The baby is at the babbling stage and chatters nonstop every day.
- ，牙牙学语。Tā gāng jiē chù biān chéng, hái zhǐ shì yá yá xué yǔ de shuǐ píng.He just started learning programming and is still at the babbling level.
- 牙牙学语，。Kàn dào hái zi yá yá xué yǔ de yàng zi, fù mǔ xīn lǐ mǎn shì xǐ yuè.Seeing their child babbling, the parents' hearts were filled with joy.
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.
Babbling and learning speech combine to describe a baby's first words.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.