Together, 词语 (cíyǔ) literally combines “word” and “language.” This creates a comprehensive term that refers to the words and phrases that constitute a language. It's the most common and neutral way to talk about the vocabulary you use to speak and write.
The concept of `词语` is fundamentally important to understanding the structure of the Chinese language. It highlights a key difference from English. In English, we learn letters, and letters form words. The “word” is the primary unit of meaning. In Chinese, you learn characters (`字 zì`), and characters combine to form `词语`. For a beginner, this is a crucial mental shift. While a single character like `人 (rén - person)` can be a word on its own, it's far more common to see it as part of a two-character `词语` like `人民 (rénmín - the people)` or `女人 (nǚrén - woman)`. The meaning becomes more specific and stable when characters are combined. Comparison to “Word” in English: The English word “word” can be a single letter (e.g., “a” or “I”). A Chinese `词语`, however, almost always refers to a unit of at least one, and most commonly two or more, characters. The focus in Chinese is not on the individual character's meaning in isolation, but how it functions within a `词语`. Learning Chinese is less about memorizing thousands of individual characters and more about learning the few thousand common `词语` they form.
`词语` is a high-frequency, neutral term used in almost any context where language is discussed.
It's neither formal nor informal—it's the standard.
The biggest point of confusion for learners is the difference between `词语` and similar-sounding terms. `词语 (cíyǔ)` vs. `单词 (dāncí)`
`词语 (cíyǔ)` vs. `字 (zì)`