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讱 describes a slow, cautious, or hesitant manner of speech, implying deliberate thoughtfulness rather than lack of eloquence. It is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 讠 (yán, 'speech') marks the meaning as related to verbal expression, and the component 刃 (rèn, 'blade' or 'edge') supplies the pronunciation. The traditional form 訒 replaces 讠 with the unsimplified radical 言. In Confucian thought, speaking with restraint is a virtue signifying care in making promises; this links the physical hesitation of the voice to moral integrity.
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