明说 (míng shuì) — to speak frankly; to say something openly

Definition

verb

to speak franklyto say something openly

，明说。
Nǐ xīn lǐ zěn me xiǎng de, jiù zěn me míng shuì ba.
Say whatever is on your mind.
明说，。
Tā míng shuì bù xǐ huan zhè fèn gōng zuò, suǒ yǐ cí zhí le.
He frankly said he didn't like this job, so he quit.
明说，。
Dà jiā yǒu shén me shì jiù míng shuì, bú yào cáng zài xīn lǐ.
Everyone should speak openly if there's anything, and not keep it in their heart.

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.

明 adds the sense of clearly or openly to 说, yielding speak frankly.

Characters in this word

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

日月明

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

言兌說

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

兌

兌duì說shuō

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

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Appears in