卜辭「（寤）」從「（夢）」部件，說明「寤」與睡夢相關。「夢（）」，是醒後的當事人表述「夢」境內容，故可承接夢境作為賓語。《說文》「寤」之「寐覺而有言」的「覺」純粹指感知能力，可理解作「睡寐中產生感官知覺，且有所言語」，當即所謂講夢話。因為「說夢話」的主語無法與夢境賓語產生關聯，故不會承接描述夢境的賓語。「寤」字在文獻中尚保留「夢」義，當源於與「夢」皆屬「寐覺」（睡寐中產生感官知覺）一種。至於醒覺義，則從原來感官知覺轉變為「醒覺」，於是「寐覺而有言」成了「從睡寐醒覺並有所言語」，此時開始與「夢」配合出現，但後來這個用法則被「覺」所替代，「寤」也從醒覺到曉悟之意，因為語義改變，此時便可承接賓語（當事），表示對賓語的曉悟之意。文中進一步指出「覺」於「覺悟／覺寤」一詞上，原始寫法當為「告」，「告」本具有知覺之意，這可以從文獻存在相關異體字作為佐證。

In oracle bone inscriptions, characters “Meng” and “Wu” are connected to dreams and sleep. This article points out that, according to Shuowen jiezi (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters), the transitive verb “Meng” used by the awakened subject is followed by an object in relation to the description of dreams. “Wu,” instead, means the sound made by the subject during slumber, namely somniloquy, which requires no objects for further explanation of dreams. With the evolution of semantics, “Wu” maintained its meaning as “waking up after sleep,” but the other implication for “Wu”, somniloquy, gradually vanished. Because “Wu” had been transformed from the meaning of “simniloquy” to “the utterances after waking up from the dreams,” this character thus started to appear with “Meng.” The meaning of “waking up” was soon replaced by “Jue” ; at the same time, “Wu” had transformed once again from “waking up” to “awakening something or realizing something,” and became a transitive verb. This article also points out that when “Jue” is used to express the meaning of “Juewu,” its original writing should be “Gao.” It can be proved by some variant forms in literature that “Gao” includes the meaning of perception.