后话 (hòu huà) — part of a story to be told later; something that will be discussed later in a narrative

Definition

A literary / narrative phrase meaning 'what comes later in the story' — something set aside to be told afterwards. Pairs with words like 至于 or 再说 to push a topic to a later point.

noun
part of a story to be told latersomething that will be discussed later in a narrative

Examples

  • ，后话。
    Wǒ men xiān shuō dào zhè lǐ, qí tā de dōu shì hòu huà.
    Let's stop here for now; the rest is a story for later.
  • ，后话。
    Guān yú zhè jiàn shì de zhēn xiàng, nà shì hòu huà.
    As for the truth of this matter, that's a story for later.
  • ，后话。
    Zhì yú tā men hòu lái zěn me yàng le, hòu huà zài jiǎng.
    As for what happened to them later, we'll tell that part later.

Origin

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.

后hòulater
话huàtalk/story

“后” is later, and “话” is talk or story, so it is talk for later.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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
言言yánword
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.

Open 话 →

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