文言
wén yán
Pinyin

Definition

文言
 - 
wén yán
  1. Classical Chinese

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

中文
Zhōng wén
  1. 1 Chinese language
博文
bó wén
  1. 1 blog article
  2. 2 to write a blog article (netspeak)
原文
yuán wén
  1. 1 original text
文
Wén
  1. 1 surname Wen
文化
wén huà
  1. 1 culture
  2. 2 civilization
  3. 3 cultural
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè],種|种[zhǒng]
文字
wén zì
  1. 1 character
  2. 2 script
  3. 3 writing
  4. 4 written language
  5. 5 writing style
  6. 6 phraseology
  7. 7 CL:個|个[gè]
文章
wén zhāng
  1. 1 article
  2. 2 essay
  3. 3 literary works
  4. 4 writings
  5. 5 hidden meaning
  6. 6 CL:篇[piān],段[duàn],頁|页[yè]
文艺
wén yì
  1. 1 literature and art
箴言
zhēn yán
  1. 1 admonition
  2. 2 exhortation
  3. 3 dictum
  4. 4 the biblical Book of Proverbs
英文
Yīng wén
  1. 1 English (language)
言
yán
  1. 1 words
  2. 2 speech
  3. 3 to say
  4. 4 to talk
语言
yǔ yán
  1. 1 language
  2. 2 CL:門|门[mén],種|种[zhǒng]
一文不值
yī wén bù zhí
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
一言不发
yī yán bù fā
  1. 1 to not say a word (idiom)
一言九鼎
yī yán jiǔ dǐng
  1. 1 one word worth nine sacred tripods (idiom); words of enormous weight
三文鱼
sān wén yú
  1. 1 salmon (loanword)
不言而喻
bù yán ér yù
  1. 1 it goes without saying
  2. 2 it is self-evident
人文
rén wén
  1. 1 humanities
  2. 2 human affairs
  3. 3 culture
代言
dài yán
  1. 1 to be a spokesperson
  2. 2 to be an ambassador (for a brand)
  3. 3 to endorse
代言人
dài yán rén
  1. 1 spokesperson

Idioms (20)

一文不值
yī wén bù zhí
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
一纸空文
yī zhǐ kōng wén
  1. 1 a worthless piece of paper (idiom)
一言一动
yī yán yī dòng
  1. 1 (one's) every word and deed (idiom)
一言一行
yī yán yī xíng
  1. 1 every word and action (idiom)
一言不发
yī yán bù fā
  1. 1 to not say a word (idiom)
一言九鼎
yī yán jiǔ dǐng
  1. 1 one word worth nine sacred tripods (idiom); words of enormous weight
一言以蔽之
yī yán yǐ bì zhī
  1. 1 one word says it all (idiom, from Analects); to cut a long story short
  2. 2 in a nutshell
一言千金
yī yán qiān jīn
  1. 1 one word worth a thousand in gold (idiom); valuable advice
  2. 2 words of enormous weight
一言既出，驷马难追
yī yán jì chū , sì mǎ nán zhuī
  1. 1 lit. once said, a team of horses cannot unsay it (idiom); a promise must be kept
一言为定
yī yán wéi dìng
  1. 1 (idiom) it's a deal
  2. 2 that's settled then
一言为重
yī yán wéi zhòng
  1. 1 each word carries weight
  2. 2 a promise must be kept (idiom)
一言难尽
yī yán nán jìn
  1. 1 hard to explain in a few words (idiom); complicated and not easy to express succinctly
三言两句
sān yán liǎng jù
  1. 1 in a few words (idiom); expressed succinctly
三言两语
sān yán liǎng yǔ
  1. 1 in a few words (idiom); expressed succinctly
不以人废言
bù yǐ rén fèi yán
  1. 1 not to reject a word because of the speaker (idiom, from Analects); to judge on the merits of the case rather than preference between advisers
不值一文
bù zhí yī wén
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
不可胜言
bù kě shèng yán
  1. 1 inexpressible (idiom)
  2. 2 beyond description
不可言喻
bù kě yán yù
  1. 1 inexpressible (idiom)
不恤人言
bù xù rén yán
  1. 1 not to worry about the gossip (idiom); to do the right thing regardless of what others say
不听老人言，吃亏在眼前
bù tīng lǎo rén yán , chī kuī zài yǎn qián
  1. 1 (idiom) ignore your elders at your peril

Sample Sentences

小李，你们学校教文言文吗？
Xiǎo Lǐ ，nǐmen xuéxiào jiāo wényánwén ma ？
Xiao Li, does your school teach Classical Chinese?
Go to Lesson 
是啊，今天看了一部电影，讲的是中国唐朝一个侠女的故事，电影画面特别唯美，简直像诗歌一样，可是台词，都是文言文，我一句也听不懂。
shì a ，jīntiān kàn le yī bù diànyǐng ，jiǎng de shì Zhōngguó Tángcháo yī gè xiánǚ de gùshi ，diànyǐng huàmiàn tèbié wéiměi ，jiǎnzhí xiàng shīgē yīyàng ，kěshì táicí ，dōu shì wényánwén ，wǒ yī jù yě tīng bù dǒng 。
Yeah. I saw a film today, about a female assasin from the Tang dynasty. The film had a very unique aesthetic, it was almost poetic, but the dialogue was all in Classical Chinese, I didn't understand a word of it.
Go to Lesson 
嗯，目前是没有，不过台湾其他大学的华语中心应该是有这个课程。怎么，想学文言文啦？
ng4 ，mùqián shì méiyǒu ，bùguò Táiwān qítā dàxué de huáyǔ zhōngxīn yīnggāi shì yǒu zhè ge kèchéng 。zěnme ，xiǎng xué wényánwén la ？
Em, it doesn't at the minute, but Chinese language centers at other universities in Taiwan will likely have this kind of class. Why, you want to learn Classical Chinese?
Go to Lesson 
真的很厉害，《聂隐娘》的故事发生在中国唐代，为了内容，语言的一致性，就连台词都设计成了文言文。
zhēnde hěn lìhai ，《Niè yǐnniáng 》de gùshi fāshēng zài Zhōngguó tángdài ，wèile nèiróng ，yǔyán de yīzhìxìng ，jiù lián táicí dōu shèjì chéng le wényánwén 。
He's really very talented. The Assassin is set in Tang Dynasty China, so in order to ensure that the language was consistent with the plot, even the dialogue was written in Classical Chinese.
Go to Lesson 
对呀，文言文是古代汉语，是古代中国人的语言，所以现在听起来当然是有难度。
duìya ，wényánwén shì gǔdài hànyǔ ，shì gǔdàizhōngguórén de yǔyán ，suǒyǐ xiànzài tīng qǐlai dāngrán shì yǒu nándù 。
That's right, Classical Chinese is ancient Chinese, the language of the people of ancient China, so, of course it sounds quite difficult to understand for modern ears.
Go to Lesson 
我的文学史教授是个古怪的人，即使电脑已经这么发达，他所有的上课材料都是手写的，而且要求学生用文言文写试卷，还不准写太长。
wǒ de wénxuéshǐ jiàoshòu shì gè gǔguài de rén ，jíshǐ diànnǎo yǐjīng zhème fādá ，tā suǒyǒu de shàngkè cáiliào dōu shì shǒuxiě de ，érqiě yāoqiú xuésheng yòng wényánwén xiě shìjuàn ，hái bù zhǔn xiě tài cháng 。
My history professor is an eccentric man. Despite the advancements of technology in the classroom, he still insists on handwriting all his class materials. He also asks the students to write their exams in classical Chinese, but they're not allow to write answers that are too long.
Go to Lesson 
古文，文言文
gǔwén ，wényánwén
Classical Chinese, classical style of writing.
Go to Lesson 
它有一点文言色彩。
tā yǒu yīdiǎn wényán sècǎi 。
It has a bit of a classical flavor.
Go to Lesson 
他们认为中国几千年来使用的文言文式样的书面表达方式不利于思想文化传播。所以为了便于在社会大众中宣传新思想，他们提倡使用更接近日常会话的白话文进行写作和交流。《新青年》就是新文化运动的主战场。
tāmen rènwéi Zhōngguó jǐ qiān nián lái shǐyòng de wényánwén shìyàng de shūmiàn biǎodá fāngshì bù lìyú sīxiǎng wénhuà chuánbō 。suǒyǐ wèile biànyú zài shèhuì dàzhòng zhōng xuānchuán xīn sīxiǎng ，tāmen tíchàng shǐyòng gèng jiējìn rìcháng huìhuà de báihuàwén jìnxíng xiězuò hé jiāoliú 。 xīnqīngnián 》jiùshì xīnwénhuàyùndòng de zhǔ zhànchǎng 。
They believed that the system of only using classical Chinese in writing, which had been in use for thousands of years, wasn't beneficial to the dissemination of thought and culture. So, in order to make this dissemination more convenient for the masses, they advocated the use of current and daily-use language in writing and communication. The literary journal, "New Youth" was the New Culture Movement's primary battlefield.
Go to Lesson 
新文化运动主要是废文言倡白话，对吧？
xīnwénhuà yùndòng zhǔyào shì fèi wényán chàng báihuà ，duìba ？
The New Culture Movement was mostly about abolishing classical language and advocating vernacular language, right?
Go to Lesson