讼 (sòng): lawsuit

Meanings

1 lawsuit
2 litigation
3 legal dispute

Characters

讼

sòng

lawsuit; litigation

Examples

两家公司因合同纠纷对簿公堂，兴讼不休。

Liǎng jiā gōngsī yīn hétong jiūfēn duìbùgōngtáng, xīng sòng bùxiū.

The two companies went to court over a contract dispute and engaged in endless litigation.

息讼是解决纠纷的最好方式。

Xī sòng shì jiějué jiūfēn de zuìhǎo fāngshì.

Settling out of court is the best way to resolve disputes.

Tips

register

讼 is a classical/literary character. In modern Chinese it appears in formal legal terms: 诉讼 (litigation), 辩讼 (to argue a case), 兴讼 (to initiate a lawsuit).

memory

讼 combines 言 (speech/words) with 公 (public) — a 'public speech' in a court of law.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech (radical form of 言)

Left speech radical — the indexing radical in its 2-stroke side form. Marks 讼 as a verbal contest: a court case is words against words. Anchors it in the speech family with 论 (argue), 议 (deliberate), 谋 (scheme), 诉 (sue / appeal) — its most natural pair.

phonetic

公 gōng

public; fair

Right side 公 supplies the sound — gōng shifted to sòng through onset alternation, the same pattern that gives 颂 (sòng, praise) from the same phonetic. 公 also contributes a perfect semantic flavour: a lawsuit is taking a private grievance into the public realm for adjudication. Modern compounds: 诉讼 (litigation), 讼师 (legal pleader).