古话 (gǔ huà) — old saying; traditional proverb

Definition

noun

old sayingtraditional proverb

Easily confused

古话“”。
Zhōng guó yǒu jù gǔ huà jiào "rù xiāng suí sú".
There's an old saying in China: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
古话，。
gǔ huà Shuō, shī bài shì chéng gōng zhī mǔ.
An old saying goes: Failure is the mother of success.
古话。
Zhè jù gǔ huà xiàn zài réng rán hěn yǒu dào lǐ.
This old saying is still very relevant today.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

古 meaning old and 话 meaning words combine to refer to an old saying.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.