道不明 (dào bù míng) — cannot be explained clearly; hard to articulate

Definition

A more literary alternative to 说不清: 'hard to put into words / hard to explain clearly,' typically for feelings, reasons, or subtle matters. Reads as more formal and written than the colloquial 说不清.

verb
cannot be explained clearlyhard to articulate

Examples

  • ，道不明。
    Zhè jiàn shì shuō bù qīng, dào bù míng.
    This matter cannot be said clearly or explained clearly.
  • ，。
    Tā xīn lǐ de gǎn shòu, bié rén hěn nán dào bù míng.
    The feelings in his heart are hard for others to articulate.
  • ，道不明。
    Qí zhōng de yuán yīn, shuí yě dào bù míng.
    No one can clearly explain the reasons behind it.

Origin

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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