Wiktionary

言

See also: 訁 and 讠
言 U+8A00, 言
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8A00
← 觿
[U+89FF] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 訁 →
[U+8A01]
⾔ U+2F94, ⾔
KANGXI RADICAL SPEECH
← ⾓
[U+2F93] 		Kangxi Radicals ⾕ →
[U+2F95]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Japanese 言
Simplified 言
Traditional 言

Alternative forms

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Note that in Japanese and Korean (printed forms), the 亠 component on top is written 二 (as found in the Kangxi dictionary). In traditional/simplified Chinese and Vietnamese, the top component is written 丶. In written Japanese, the top component may be written either 一, 丶 or 丨 (small vertical stroke).

Han character

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See images of
Radical 149 言

言 (Kangxi radical 149, 言+0, 7 strokes, cangjie input 卜一一口 (YMMR), four-corner 00601, composition ⿳亠𠄠口(GHTV) or ⿱亖口(JK))

  1. Kangxi radical #149, ⾔.
  2. Shuowen Jiezi radical №56

Derived characters

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See also

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  • 訁／讠 (yán) (when used as a left Chinese radical).

References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 1146, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35205
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1612, character 20
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3936, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+8A00

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 言

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 言
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
       
Characters in the same phonetic series (言) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
唁 *ŋrans
這 *ŋrans
言 *ŋan
琂 *ŋan
圁 *ŋrɯn
誾 *ŋrɯn
訔 *ŋrɯn
狺 *ŋrɯn, *ŋɯn

Ideogram (指事) : 言 was created by adding a horizontal stroke to the top of the ancient version of 舌 to indicate movement of the tongue.[1] This indicates speech, where 舌 is a mouth (口) with a tongue sticking out; hence 舌 doesn't indicate the speech, but the tongue as an organ of the body. In the modern version, another horizontal stroke (then stylized as a point) was added on top and the vertical body of the tongue disappeared. See also 音.

Shuowen erroneously analyzes the glyph as a phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : phonetic 䇂 () + semantic 口 (“mouth”).

Etymology

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According to Schuessler (2007: 74) this word is derived from 語 (OC *ŋaʔ, “to speak”) + -n nominal suffix.

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • ngoeng2/ngyeng2 - literary;
  • ngyng2 - literary variant.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 言
Mandarin Beijing /iɛn³⁵/
Harbin /ian²⁴/
Tianjin /ian⁴⁵/
Jinan /iã⁴²/
Qingdao /iã⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ian⁴²/
Xi'an /iã²⁴/
Xining /iã²⁴/
Yinchuan /ian⁵³/
Lanzhou /iɛ̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /ian⁵¹/
Wuhan /iɛn²¹³/
Chengdu /ian³¹/
Guiyang /ian²¹/
Kunming /iɛ̃³¹/
Nanjing /ien²⁴/
Hefei /iĩ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /ie¹¹/
Pingyao /ȵie̞¹³/
Hohhot /ie³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ɦi²³/
Suzhou /ɦiɪ¹³/
Hangzhou /ɦiẽ̞²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵi³¹/
Hui Shexian /ne⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ȵiɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /iẽ¹³/
Xiangtan /ȵiẽ¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ȵiɛn⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋian¹¹/
Taoyuan /ŋien¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /jin²¹/
Nanning /jin²¹/
Hong Kong /jin²¹/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /gian³⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ŋyoŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /ŋyiŋ³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /ŋaŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ŋin³¹/
/ŋin²¹³/ 俗
/kɔŋ²¹³/ 訓講
Rime
Character 言
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 元 (65)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 語軒切
Baxter ngjon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ŋɨɐn/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ŋiɐn/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ŋiɐn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ŋɨan/
Li
Rong 		/ŋiɐn/
Wang
Li 		/ŋĭɐn/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ŋɨ̯ɐn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		yán
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		jin4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 言 言 言 言
Reading # 1/4 2/4 3/4 4/4
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		yán yán yán yán
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[r]/
English (a particle) I, we speak; speech tall

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 言
Reading # 1/1
No. 14271
Phonetic
component 		言
Rime
group 		元
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		言
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋan/

Definitions

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言

  1. to say; to speak; to talk
    言語／言语  ―  yányu  ―  to speak; to tell
    三思而後言／三思而后言 [Classical Chinese]  ―  sānsī ér hòu yán [Pinyin]  ―  Think before you speak.
  2. to discuss; to comment
  3. to state; to describe; to explain
  4. to write down; to record
  5. to ask; to inquire
  6. to inform; to tell; to let know
  7. spoken language; speech
    語言／语言  ―  yǔyán  ―  language
    諾言／诺言  ―  nuòyán  ―  promise
    發言／发言  ―  fāyán  ―  to make a speech
    謠言／谣言  ―  yáoyán  ―  fabricated rumor
    洋洋萬言／洋洋万言  ―  yángyángwànyán  ―  to be very lengthy (of an article, essay)
    我能留個言嗎？／我能留个言吗？  ―  Wǒ néng liú ge yán ma?  ―  Can I leave a message?
  8. opinion; view; perspective
  9. words; language appropriate to the occasion
  10. proposal; idea; plan
  11. government decree; order
  12. character; word
  13. sentence; writing; works
  14. † A meaningless sentence-initial mood particle.
  15. a surname

Synonyms

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Dialectal synonyms of 說 (“to say, to speak”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 言, 云, 曰, 道
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 說, 道 literary
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 說
Taiwan 說, 講
Malaysia 說, 講
Singapore 說, 講
Jilu Mandarin Tianjin 說
Jinan 說
Jiaoliao Mandarin Qingdao 說, 講
Central Plains Mandarin Xi'an 說
Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan) 說
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 說
Wuhan 說
Guilin 講
Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine) 講
Pematangsiantar 講
Jianghuai Mandarin Hefei 講
Cantonese Guangzhou 講, 話
Hong Kong 講, 話
Macau 講, 話
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 講, 話
Zhuhai (Doumen) 講
Taishan 話
Taishan (Guanghai) 講
Yunfu 話
Yangjiang 講, 話
Beihai 講
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô) 講
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà) 講
Fangchenggang (Fangcheng) 講
Danzhou 講
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 講, 話
Penang (Guangfu) 講, 話
Singapore (Guangfu) 講, 話
Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu) 講
Móng Cái 講
Mandalay (Taishan) 講
Gan Nanchang 話
Hakka Meixian 講, 話
Wuhua (Meilin) 講
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 講
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 講
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 講
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 講
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 講
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 講
Hong Kong 講
Kuching (Hepo) 講
Singapore (Dabu) 講
Huizhou Jixi 講
Jin Taiyuan 說
Northern Min Jian'ou 話
Eastern Min Fuzhou 講
Fuqing 講
Singapore (Fuqing) 講
Southern Min Xiamen 講
Xiamen (Tong'an) 講
Quanzhou 說
Jinjiang 說
Shishi 說, 講
Zhangzhou 講
Zhao'an 呾, 講
Dongshan 講
Taipei 講
Kaohsiung 講
Tainan 講
Penang (Hokkien) 講
Singapore (Hokkien) 講
Manila (Hokkien) 說, 講
Chaozhou 呾
Raoping 呾
Shantou 呾
Shantou (Chenghai) 呾
Shantou (Chaoyang) 呾
Jieyang 呾
Lufeng 講
Haifeng 講
Bangkok (Teochew) 呾
Phnom Penh (Teochew) 呾
Ho Chi Minh City (Teochew) 呾
Singapore (Teochew) 呾
Pontianak (Teochew) 呾
Leizhou 講
Wenchang 講
Haikou 講
Qionghai 講
Singapore (Hainanese) 講
Puxian Min Putian 講
Zhongshan Min Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi) 講
Southern Pinghua Binyang 講, 說
Wu Shanghai 講
Shanghai (Chongming) 話
Suzhou 講, 說
Hangzhou 說, 話, 講
Hangzhou (Yuhang) 講, 話
Ningbo 講, 話
Wenzhou 講
Xiang Changsha 講
Xiangtan 講
Xiangxiang 講
Xiangxiang (Meiqiao) 講
Shuangfeng 曰, 講

Compounds

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References

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  1. ^ <言> at the Glyph Database from the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica and the Institute of Information Science

Further reading

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Japanese

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Kanji

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言

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. to say
  2. speech

Readings

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Compounds

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Compounds

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
言
げん
Grade: 2
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 言 (MC ngjon, “speech”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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言(げん) • (gen) 

  1. word
  2. (linguistics) parole
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
言
こと
Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Cognate with 事 (koto, “thing”).[4]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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言(こと) • (koto) 

  1. word

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  3. ^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Chinese 言 (MC ngjon).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

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Hanja

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Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

言 (eumhun 말씀 언 (malsseum eon))

  1. hanja form? of 언 (“word”)
  2. hanja form? of 언 (“speech”)

Compounds

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Compounds

Etymology 2

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Related to Middle Chinese 誾 (MC ngin).

Hanja

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言 (eumhun 심사화평할 은 (simsahwapyeonghal eun))

  1. (literary Chinese) hanja form? of 은 (“peaceful demeanor”)

Compounds

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Compounds

References

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  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Okinawan

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Kanji

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言

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. to say
  2. speech

Readings

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Compounds

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Compounds

Noun

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言(くとぅ) (kutu) 

  1. word

Vietnamese

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Han character

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言: Hán Nôm readings: ngôn, ngỏn, ngộn, ngổn, ngồn, ngủn

  1. speech
  2. word
  3. to speak
  4. to tell

Compounds

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