<p>You have given the basic differences. Other meanings may be derived directly or indirectly from the basic meaning. The elaborated explanation can be found at 汉典: <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE6Zdic96Zdic87.htm" rel="nofollow">文</a> <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE8ZdicAFZdicAD.htm" rel="nofollow">语</a>. On the "详细解释" (detailed explanation) tab there are some English translation.</p>

<p>In short, besides what may directly related to language (when the difference is as your have mentioned), there are these other meanings (derived from the basic meaning) as follows:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>文:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>noun: 
  <ul>
  <li>natural phenomenon (E.g. 天文, astronomy)</li>
  <li>achievements in culture and education;civilian post (as opposed to military)</li>
  <li>文教;礼节仪式 [rites]</li>
  <li>指表现形式;外表 [form;appearance]</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>verb:
  <ul>
  <li>tatto</li>
  <li>修饰;文饰 [cover up]</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>adjective
  <ul>
  <li>[magnificent;gorgeous]</li>
  <li>[mild;gentle]</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>quantity word:
  <ul>
  <li>used for some kind of old money <br></li>
  </ul></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>语:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>verb: 
  <ul>
  <li>鸟兽虫类鸣叫 [cry;chirp;roar]</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>noun:
  <ul>
  <li>特指谚语、古语或成语 [idiom;set phrase;proverb;saying]</li>
  <li>用以示意的动作或信号 [signal] (E.g. 手语 sign language)</li>
  </ul></li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>Note the above are only some pickups.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T01:51:52.327Z
2012-01-19T01:51:52.327Z
fefe
<p>文 comes from an ideogram of a man's chest with a tattoo, referring to a written character.</p>

<p>语, as you may know, has the radical for speech, which is simplified from a mouth with 4 lines that resemble the sound of the voice. I once saw an explanation for the right part, the 五 over 口, but I can't recall it now, will search for it too.  </p>

<p>sources:<br>
<a href="http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E6%96%87" rel="nofollow">http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=文</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T00:16:07.663Z
Yes, I was aware of that radical and also for that reason, that distinction made sense... So you confirm that differences and that there aren't others?
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T00:18:38.907Z
I just confirm that the differences are those and I know no others. :D
Petruza
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T01:59:22.097Z
FYI, it doesn't really make sense to analyze most characters ideogrammatically because most are [phono-semantic compounds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Phono-semantic_compound_characters).  In other words, the meaning of 语 has no connection to 五 or 口.  The radical indicates the semantic category (in this case 言/讠 indicates it's related to speech), while the phonetic component indicates the pronunciation (here 吾 wú approximates the pronunciation of 语 yǔ; while not too close in modern Mandarin, their pronunciations were much closer in Old Chinese: *ŋâ and *ŋaʔ).
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T17:55:32.993Z
I know. It's just that in this examples, I actually knew for a fact that 文 and the left part of 语 did actually have meaning and weren't phonetic.
Petruza
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T00:04:48.053Z
2012-01-19T00:04:48.053Z
Petruza
<p>Yes, that is the main difference between 文 and 语. And you're right to say they refer <em>more</em> to written/spoken language rather than having that exclusive meaning - when someone talks about 中文, for example, they often mean the spoken language as well as just the written form, while 书面语 refers to literary words usually found in books. The other differences are explained by Fefe's post.</p>

<p>Here is a post (in Chinese) on Baidu Zhidao asking the same question, which comes to the same conclusion: <a href="http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/86849931.html">http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/86849931.html</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-19T04:03:37.220Z
2012-01-19T04:03:37.220Z
Ironfrost
<p>Both mean "language" with some other related meanings.</p>

<p>A friend of mine told me that while 文 refers more to the written language, 语 is more related to the spoken one.</p>

<p>Is this a difference and is it the only one?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-21T02:18:55.950Z
文: written text, 语: spoken language.
xenophōn
<usage><characters><difference>
What's the actual difference between 文 and 语?
# What's the actual difference between 文 and 语?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-18)

Both mean "language" with some other related meanings.

A friend of mine told me that while 文 refers more to the written language, 语 is more related to the spoken one.

Is this a difference and is it the only one?

**Tags:** usage, characters, difference

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 文: written text, 语: spoken language.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-01-19. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

Yes, that is the main difference between 文 and 语. And you're right to say they refer *more* to written/spoken language rather than having that exclusive meaning - when someone talks about 中文, for example, they often mean the spoken language as well as just the written form, while 书面语 refers to literary words usually found in books. The other differences are explained by username_2's post.

Here is a post (in Chinese) on Baidu Zhidao asking the same question, which comes to the same conclusion: <http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/86849931.html>


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-01-19. Score: 2

You have given the basic differences. Other meanings may be derived directly or indirectly from the basic meaning. The elaborated explanation can be found at 汉典: [文](http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE6Zdic96Zdic87.htm) [语](http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE8ZdicAFZdicAD.htm). On the "详细解释" (detailed explanation) tab there are some English translation.

In short, besides what may directly related to language (when the difference is as your have mentioned), there are these other meanings (derived from the basic meaning) as follows:

> 文:
>
> * noun:
>   + natural phenomenon (E.g. 天文, astronomy)
>   + achievements in culture and education;civilian post (as opposed to military)
>   + 文教;礼节仪式 [rites]
>   + 指表现形式;外表 [form;appearance]
> * verb:
>   + tatto
>   + 修饰;文饰 [cover up]
> * adjective
>   + [magnificent;gorgeous]
>   + [mild;gentle]
> * quantity word:
>   + used for some kind of old money
>
> 语:
>
> * verb:
>   + 鸟兽虫类鸣叫 [cry;chirp;roar]
> * noun:
>   + 特指谚语、古语或成语 [idiom;set phrase;proverb;saying]
>   + 用以示意的动作或信号 [signal] (E.g. 手语 sign language)

Note the above are only some pickups.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-01-19. Score: 0

文 comes from an ideogram of a man's chest with a tattoo, referring to a written character.

语, as you may know, has the radical for speech, which is simplified from a mouth with 4 lines that resemble the sound of the voice. I once saw an explanation for the right part, the 五 over 口, but I can't recall it now, will search for it too.

sources:  
[http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=文](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E6%96%87)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes, I was aware of that radical and also for that reason, that distinction made sense... So you confirm that differences and that there aren't others?  
> **username_3**: I just confirm that the differences are those and I know no others. :D  
> **username_4**: FYI, it doesn't really make sense to analyze most characters ideogrammatically because most are [phono-semantic compounds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Phono-semantic_compound_characters).  In other words, the meaning of 语 has no connection to 五 or 口.  The radical indicates the semantic category (in this case 言/讠 indicates it's related to speech), while the phonetic component indicates the pronunciation (here 吾 wú approximates the pronunciation of 语 yǔ; while not too close in modern Mandarin, their pronunciations were much closer in Old Chinese: *ŋâ and *ŋaʔ).  
> **username_3**: I know. It's just that in this examples, I actually knew for a fact that 文 and the left part of 语 did actually have meaning and weren't phonetic.  

---

