言 (yán) — speech, word, talk (bound form in compounds related to language and communication); (in poetry) a character or syllable (as in 五言诗)
Definition
言 is a bound literary morpheme meaning 'speech / words', seen mostly inside compound words (e.g. 言论, 语言). The lone-verb use 'fā yán' (to speak) is more formal than the everyday 说话.
bound form
speechwordtalk (bound form in compounds related to language and communication)(in poetry) a character or syllable (as in 五言诗)
Examples
- 。Tā de yǔ yán néng lì hěn qiáng.His language ability is very strong.
- 。Tā fā biǎo le yì tōng kāng kǎi jī áng de yán lùn.He made a passionate speech.
- 。Tā zài huì shàng fā le yí cì yán.He made a speech at the meeting.
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