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说梦话 (shuō mèng huà) — to talk in one's sleep; (figuratively) to talk nonsense

Definition

A separable verb (离合词) meaning 'to talk in one's sleep'; figuratively, 'to talk nonsense'. Insert a numeral or short object between 说 and 梦话, as in 说了不少梦话.

verb
to talk in one's sleep(figuratively) to talk nonsense

Examples

  • 说梦话。
    Tā měi tiān wǎn shàng dōu shuō mèng huà.
    He talks in his sleep every night.
  • 。
    Tā zuó wǎn shuō le bù shǎo mèng huà.
    He talked quite a bit in his sleep last night.
  • ，说梦话。
    Bié tīng tā de, tā lǎo shì zài shuō mèng huà.
    Don't listen to him — he's always talking nonsense.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

说shuōspeak
梦话dream talk
梦mèngdream话huàspeech
偏正Modifier + head

说 is to speak, 梦话 is talk from dreams, so one talks as if dreaming.

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
兌
兌duì說shuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →

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 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xī
Sound part声符shēngfú
瞢
瞢méng夢mèng
Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Open 梦 →

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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