自语 (zì yǔ) — to talk to oneself | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to talk to oneself

自语。
Tā zǒng xǐ huan yí gè rén zì yǔ.
He always likes to talk to himself alone.
自语，。
Bú yào zì yǔ, bié rén huì jué de nǐ hěn qí guài.
Don't talk to yourself; others will think you're very strange.
自语。
Tā jǐn zhāng de shí hou jiù huì zì yǔ.
She talks to herself when she's nervous.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìoneself

"自" points to oneself and "语" means speak, together mean talking to oneself.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.