喃喃

nánnán

adverb #23,933

Meanings

1 murmuring
2 muttering
3 mumbling

Characters

murmur, mutter (onomatopoeia — reduplication intensifies the soft repetitive sound)

Examples

她喃喃自语，不知道在说什么。

Tā nánnán zìyǔ, bù zhīdào zài shuō shénme.

She was muttering to herself; no one knew what she was saying.

他喃喃地说着道歉的话。

Tā nánnán de shuōzhe dàoqiàn de huà.

He mumbled words of apology.

Tips

usage

喃喃 is a reduplicated onomatopoeia describing a low, continuous murmuring sound. It almost always appears with 自语 (zìyǔ, talking to oneself) as 喃喃自语, the standard phrase for 'muttering to oneself'.

Stroke Order

喃 nán