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语音 (yǔ yīn) — (of a word or character) pronunciation; voice; audio (in digital technologies)

Definition

语音 means the pronunciation of a word or character, or voice/audio as a signal. Unlike 声音 (general sound/voice) or 发音 (the act of pronouncing), 语音 is more technical and pairs with words like 识别 'recognition' and 信号 'signal'.

noun
(of a word or character) pronunciationvoiceaudio (in digital technologies)

Examples

  • 语音。
    Qǐng gào sù wǒ zhè ge hàn zì de yǔ yīn.
    Please tell me the pronunciation of this Chinese character.
  • 。
    Wǒ yòng yǔ yīn kòng zhì jiā lǐ de dēng.
    I use voice to control the lights at home.
  • 语音。
    Xué xí wài yǔ yào mó fǎng biāo zhǔn de yǔ yīn.
    When learning a foreign language, you need to imitate standard pronunciation.

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.

语yǔspeech
音yīnsound

语 names speech and 音 means sound, giving the sound of speech.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
吾
吾wú語yǔ
Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

Open 语 →

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

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Language

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