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语词 (yǔ cí) — words and phrases; vocabulary; expression

Definition

语词 (yǔcí) is a formal, written term for 'words and phrases / vocabulary' — broader and more literary than the everyday 词汇, often used to discuss the wordstock of a language or text.

noun
words and phrasesvocabularyexpression

Examples

  • 语词。
    Zhè běn cí diǎn shōu lù le dà liàng de gǔ dài yǔ cí.
    This dictionary contains a large number of ancient words and phrases.
  • ，语词。
    Xué xí yì mén yǔ yán, zhǎng wò jī běn de yǔ cí hěn zhòng yào.
    When learning a language, mastering basic vocabulary is very important.
  • 语词。
    Tā de wén zhāng shǐ yòng le fēi cháng fēng fù de yǔ cí.
    His article uses very rich expressions.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

语yǔword
词cíphrase

语 and 词 both refer to spoken or written units, so together they mean words and expressions.

Characters in this word

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
吾
吾wú語yǔ
Same sound today

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

Open 语 →

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →
Appears in
Language

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