DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

國語

简国语 · 繁國語

Mandarin · pinyin Guó yǔ

Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature
Chinese as a primary or secondary school subject
Chinese in the context of the Nationalist Government
Guoyu, book of historical narrative c. 10th-5th century BC

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

國: Look up this written character
語: Look up this written character
国: guó · nation, country, nation-state
语: yǔ · language, words; saying, expression

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–3 · Guo2 yu3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

國語 · find source passages ↗ · 国语 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 9 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwok3 jyu5

Cantonese word readings for 國語. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (chiefly Taiwan, overseas communities in the West and Philippine Hokkien, colloquial or historical in Hong Kong, dated in Mainland China, obsolete in Malaysia and Singapore) Standard Mandarin Chinese; Standard Chinese
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (usually in contrast with 普通話／普通话 (pǔtōnghuà, “Mandarin as spoken in Mainland China”)) Taiwanese Mandarin; Mandarin as spoken in Taiwan
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (Malaysia) Malay, the national language of Malaysia
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (obsolete in Taiwan) the Japanese language
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (historical) under conquest dynasties founded by non-Han groups, the language of the conquering ethnic group: Khitan under the Liao, Mongol under the Yuan, Manchu under the Qing, etc.
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (Mainland China) short for 國家通用語言／国家通用语言
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (Korean Classical Chinese) the Korean language
national language; language specific to or of official usage in a nation — (Vietnamese Classical Chinese) the Vietnamese language; chữ Nôm

name

Discourses of the States (a text from the Spring and Autumn period)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack