译

譯
yì
verb HSK 7-9 #17,332

Meanings

  1. 1 to translate
  2. 2 to interpret

Examples

HSK 4
Nǐ néng bāng wǒ fānyì zhè jù huà ma?
Can you translate this sentence for me?
HSK 7-9
Yì wén
translated text

Tips

usage
言 speech + 睪 phonetic - converting speech from one language to another

Components

radical
讠 yán
speech; words (radical form of 言)
Left simplified speech radical (side form of 言) anchors 译 in the language/communication family with 说 speak, 话 talk, 词 word, 谈 chat. Translation is fundamentally a speech act - turning one tongue into another - so the speech radical carries the meaning directly.
phonetic
圣 shèng
graphic reduction of 睪 (yì-phonetic)
The right side is a 5-stroke graphic reduction of 睪 (yì), the original phonetic in traditional 譯. It looks identical to 圣 (shèng) in simplified script but is etymologically distinct. Same reduction in 择, 泽, 释, 驿 - all once written with 睪, now sharing this 5-stroke residue.

Stroke Order

译 yì