言 (yán): words; speech; what one says

Meanings

1 words; speech; what one says
2 to say; to speak
3 character; word

Examples

他是一个说到做到的人——言出必行。

Tā shì yígè shuōdàozuòdào de rén — — yán chū bì xíng.

He's a man of his word — he always follows through.

语言是文化的一部分。

Yǔyán shì wénhuà de yíbùfen.

Language is part of culture.

一言难尽。

Yīyánnánjìn.

It's a long story. (lit: hard to explain in one word)

Tips

usage

言 is a key radical (讠) in many speech-related characters: 说, 话, 语, 认, 讨, 论, 诉, 谢, etc. As a word: 语言 (language), 发言 (speak), 名言 (famous quote), 留言 (leave a message).

Components

pictograph

言 yán

speech; words

言 pictures a tongue extending from a mouth — words coming out. The top horizontal is the upper lip, the strokes below are the tongue and the open mouth box at the bottom. Among the most productive radicals in Chinese (Kangxi #149), indexing every variety of saying and writing — though most modern compounds use the variant 讠.

Radical

Speech Kangxi #149

The speech radical. A compound of a tongue extending from a mouth — words coming out. Among the most productive radicals in the language, indexing every variety of saying and writing: 说, 话, 语, 请, 谢, 让, 认, 讨, 评, 议. In simplified script the left-side variant 讠 has largely replaced standalone 言 in compounds.