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嘟囔 (dū nang) — to mumble to oneself, to mutter

Definition

An onomatopoeic verb for quietly muttering or grumbling to oneself, usually complaining or inaudible. Often reduplicated as 嘟囔嘟囔 or extended to 嘟嘟囔囔.

verb
to mumble to oneselfto mutter

Examples

  • 嘟囔。
    Tā zuò zài jiǎo luò lǐ bù tíng dì dū nang zhe shén me.
    He sat in the corner mumbling something to himself.
  • 嘟囔，。
    Bié dū nang le, yǒu huà dà shēng shuō.
    Stop mumbling — if you have something to say, say it out loud.
  • 嘟囔。
    Tā yì biān fān shū yì biān dī shēng dū nang.
    She was flipping through the book while muttering under her breath.

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.

嘟dū
囔nāng

嘟 and 囔 carry no meaning of their own here; together they name muttering.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 嘟 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in
Communication & Speech

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