Definitions
(noun)
words; speech; talk; spoken language
(verb)
to speak; to say; to talk
Etymology
Pictograph of the moon.
About
The character for "speech" or "words", now written as "话" in its simplified form, originates from the traditional character "話", a compound ideograph that integrates the radical "言" meaning speech with the component "舌" representing the tongue, thereby phonetically and semantically encoding the concept of spoken language. Historically, this character has maintained its core association with verbal communication, but its semantic range has broadened from merely denoting spoken words to including derived meanings such as conversation, discourse, and even specific types of talk, as seen in compound terms where it functions as a morpheme. The structural simplification from "話" to "话" preserved the essential relationship between speech and the tongue while streamlining the character for practical use.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他说了很多话。
你说的话是真的吗？
这句话是什么意思？
别跟我说客气话。
我们找个时间好好说说话。
电话里传来他焦急的话语。
你能把心里话告诉我吗？
对于此事，官方尚未公开发表讲话。