How to Write 呓 (yì) — Meaning “to talk in one's sleep”

Picture a person sleeping with their mouth (口) open and muttering nonsense like 'yì yì' (the sound of 艺). Think of '艺' as a sleepy artist who talks random words in their dreams. This links the mouth, the sound, and the meaning of sleep-talking.

Write the left side 口 (3 strokes) small and slightly above the center, then write 艺 (4 strokes) on the right. A common mistake is confusing the right part 艺 with the character 乙 (yǐ) – note that 艺 has a horizontal stroke at the top followed by a diagonal hook, not a simple horizontal bend. Keep the mouth component compact so the character looks balanced.

呓 (yì) means 'to talk in one's sleep' and has the structure 口+艺. 卟 (bǔ) has 口+卜 and is a rare character used for 'to divine' or as a sound word, not related to sleep. 古 (gǔ) means 'ancient' and is formed by 十+ 口, so its top part is different. Visually, 呓 has a taller right side with 艺, while 古 has a flat top with 十.

呓 appears mostly in formal or literary contexts, especially in the words 梦呓 (mèng yì) and 呓语 (yì yǔ), both meaning 'sleep-talking.' Culturally, 呓语 is also used metaphorically to mean 'nonsense' or 'ravings,' much like in English when someone says 'that's just sleep-talk.' It is not common in everyday conversation but appears in writing and medical contexts.

Common words containing 呓 include: 梦呓 (mèng yì) — talking in one's sleep; somniloquy; 呓语 (yì yǔ) — sleep-talk / nonsense; 呓症 (yì zhèng) — sleep-talking / somniloquy.