寡言 (guǎ yán) — taciturn; quiet; reserved

Definition

Literary adjective for 'taciturn, habitually saying little'. Connotes quiet reserve more than shyness — what is unspoken still feels intentional. Less common than 沉默, which just means 'silent' in a moment.

adjective
taciturnquietreserved

Examples

  • 寡言，。
    Tā xìng gé guǎ yán, bù xǐ huan cān jiā shè jiāo huó dòng.
    He is reserved by nature and doesn't like attending social events.
  • 寡言，。
    Nà wèi xué zhě xiàng lái guǎ yán, dàn zài xué shù tǎo lùn zhōng què fēi cháng xī lì.
    That scholar has always been taciturn, but he is very sharp in academic discussions.
  • 寡言，。
    Tā suī rán guǎ yán, kě yì kāi kǒu jiù yì zhēn jiàn xiě.
    She is quiet, but when she speaks, she hits the nail on the head.

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.

寡guǎfew
言yánspeech

寡 means few and 言 means speech, giving the sense of speaking little.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 頁頁yèhead

The form 寡 pairs 宀, a house, with 頁, a head: one head in a house, alone.

Open 寡 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Open 言 →

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