Definition
谓 (wèi) is a bound morpheme (b.f.) — it cannot stand alone as an independent word. It appears in compounds meaning 'to call / to name' (所谓 'so-called', 称谓 'title/appellation'), in the grammatical term 谓语 'predicate', and in the fixed expression 无所谓 'doesn't matter / indifferent' (literally 'nothing to call it'). In classical Chinese it can mean 'to say', but modern usage is almost entirely within fixed compounds.
b.f.
(bound form) to callto nameto designate(bound form) predicate (in grammar)
Examples
- ，。Suǒ wèi de xìngfú, zhǐshì biǎomiàn xiànxiàng.So-called happiness is just a surface phenomenon.
- 。wèi yǔ shì jùzi zhōng shuōmíng zhǔyǔ de bùfèn.The predicate is the part of a sentence that explains the subject.
- ，。Suǒ wèi de zìyóu, bú shì suíxīn suǒ yù.So-called freedom is not doing whatever you want.
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