哑谜 (yā mèi) — puzzling remark; enigma; riddle

Definition

A 哑谜 (yǎ mí) is a "dumb riddle" — spoken or written, with no gestures or objects to hint at the answer. Unlike 谜语 (míyǔ), it relies purely on words, making it trickier to solve.

noun
puzzling remarkenigmariddle

Examples

  • 哑谜，。
    Tā shuō de nà jù huà shì gè yā mèi, méi rén néng dǒng.
    That remark he made was a riddle; no one could understand it.
  • 哑谜。
    Zhè ge yā mèi de dá àn qí shí hěn jiǎn dān.
    The answer to this riddle is actually very simple.
  • 哑谜。
    Tā xǐ huan yòng yā mèi lái kǎo yàn péng you de zhì huì.
    She likes to use riddles to test her friends' wisdom.

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.

哑yǎmute
谜míriddle

哑 means mute, 谜 means riddle; together they suggest a puzzling remark.

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 啞; 哑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
亞
亞yā啞
Same sound today

In the traditional form 啞, 口 shows the idea of mouth, and 亞 supplies the pronunciation; the simplified 哑 is a later shorthand.

Open 哑 →

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 謎; 谜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
迷
迷mí謎mí
Same sound today

The traditional form 謎 is made from 言 (speech) and 迷, which gives the sound and means 'to be lost'; the simplified 谜 is a later abbreviation.

Open 谜 →

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