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口齒不清

简口齿不清 · 繁口齒不清

Mandarin · pinyin kǒu chǐ bù qīng

to lisp
unclear articulation
inarticulate

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Characters in this entry

口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
齒: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
清: qīng · clear, pure, clean; peaceful
齿: chǐ · teeth; gears, cogs; age; simplified form of the Kangxi radical 211

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–1 · kou3 chi3 bu4 qing1

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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.

口齒不清 · find source passages ↗ · 口齿不清 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau2 ci2 bat1 cing1

Cantonese word readings for 口齒不清. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to have slurred speech; to be unable to speak clearly

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

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