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怨言 (yuàn yán) — complaint; grumble

Definition

A noun for words of complaint — used in fixed patterns like 毫无怨言 ('not a word of complaint') or 说怨言. Contrast with 抱怨 and 埋怨, which are verbs meaning the act of complaining.

noun
complaintgrumble

Examples

  • 怨言。
    Tā cóng lái bù shuō yí jù yuàn yán.
    He never says a single word of complaint.
  • 怨言。
    Tā duì gōng sī de ān pái méi yǒu rèn hé yuàn yán.
    She has no complaints about the company's arrangements.
  • ，怨言。
    Miàn duì gōng zuò zhōng de bù gōng píng, tā cóng bù suí biàn shuō chū yuàn yán.
    In the face of unfairness at work, he never casually utters complaints.

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.

怨yuànresentment
言yánwords

怨 gives resentment and 言 gives words, so the whole means resentful words or a complaint.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
夗
夗wǎn怨yuàn
Same sound today

怨 has 心 (heart) below and 夗 above as a sound part; the heart part shows the meaning concerns feelings.

Open 怨 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & Speech

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