自言自语 (zì yán zì yǔ)

Character breakdown

• 自 (zì) · 6 strokes

  Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

• 言 (yán) · 7 strokes

  Pictograph of a tongue (舌) sticking out of a mouth. In old scripts 言 was written the same as 舌 but with an extra line.

• 自 (zì) · 6 strokes

  Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

• 语 (yǔ) · 9 strokes

  Simplified form of 語. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 吾 represents the sound.