讷 (nè): slow in speech

Meanings

1 slow in speech
2 inarticulate
3 tongue-tied

Characters

讷

nè

slow of speech; inarticulate

Examples

他生性讷言，不善表达。

Tā shēngxìng nè yán, bùshàn biǎodá.

By nature he is slow of speech and not good at expressing himself.

木讷的性格让他在社交场合很不自在。

Mù nè de xìnggé ràng tā zài shèjiāo chǎnghé hěn bù zìzài.

His inarticulate nature made him uncomfortable in social situations.

Tips

usage

讷 is most commonly seen in the compound 木讷, meaning slow and inarticulate, often with a connotation of simple honesty rather than stupidity.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech (radical form of 言)

Left speech radical (side-form of 言) - the indexing radical. Pictograph of a mouth with tongue, abbreviated to two strokes. Anchors 讷 in the speech family with 说 speak, 论 discuss, 谈 chat. The whole describes a quality of speech - halting, inarticulate - so the radical pin is direct.

phonetic

内 nèi

inside; inner

Right 内 supplies the sound: nèi to nè with tone shift, an exact rime match. Also contributes meaning: 内 means 'inside, held within,' so 讷 reads as 'words held inside' - speech that stays trapped within, struggling to come out. The pairing makes the etymology vividly motivated.