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嘀咕 (dí gu) — to mutter, to mumble (to oneself); to have misgivings, to feel uneasy about something

Definition

嘀咕 covers both senses here: muttering softly to yourself, and having a quiet nagging worry inside. The worry sense is less formal than 顾虑, which is more like a considered concern or scruple.

verb
to mutterto mumble (to oneself)to have misgivingsto feel uneasy about something

Examples

  • 嘀咕，。
    Bié yí gè rén zài nà r dí gu le, shuō chū lái dà jiā tīng tīng.
    Stop muttering to yourself over there; say it out loud so we can all hear.
  • 嘀咕，。
    Wǒ xīn lǐ yì zhí dí gu zhè jiàn shì, pà tā bù tóng yì.
    I've been feeling uneasy about this the whole time, afraid he might not agree.
  • 嘀咕，。
    Tā men lǎo zài bèi hòu dí gu bié rén, zhè yàng bú tài hǎo.
    They're always muttering about others behind their backs — that's not nice.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

嘀dí
咕gū

嘀 and 咕 do not carry separate meanings here; the whole word names low muttering or unease.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
啇
啇dí嘀
Same sound today

嘀 uses 口 (mouth) to show it is related to the mouth, and 啇 to give the sound dí.

Open 嘀 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ咕gū
Same sound today

咕 combines 口 (mouth) with 古, which provides the sound. The 口 part points to mouth sounds, such as clucking or cooing.

Open 咕 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & SpeechEmotions & Feelings

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