词语 from HSK Level 2 Vocabulary List

The Chinese word 词语 (cíyǔ) is a compound word consisting of two characters: 词 (cí) and 语 (yǔ). The character 词 originally meant "to cut" or "to carve", and was later extended to mean "word" or "term". The character 语 originally meant "to speak" or "to talk", and was later extended to mean "language" or "speech". Thus, the compound word 词语 literally means "word-language" or "word-speech", and is used to refer to words or terms in a language.In modern Chinese, 词语 is used in a variety of contexts to refer to words or terms. For example, it can be used to refer to individual words, such as the word "你好" (nǐ hǎo, "hello"), or to groups of words, such as the phrase "我爱你" (wǒ ài nǐ, "I love you"). It can also be used to refer to the vocabulary of a language, such as the "汉语词语" (Hànyǔ cíyǔ, "Chinese vocabulary").The word 词语 is an important part of the Chinese language, and is used in a wide variety of contexts. Understanding the etymology of this word can help learners to better understand the meaning and usage of this word in Chinese.