证言 (zhèng yán) — testimony; deposition

Definition

noun

testimonydeposition

证言。
Tā de zhèng yán zài fǎ tíng shàng qǐ le zhòng yào zuò yòng.
His testimony played an important role in court.
证言。
Lǜ shī zǐ xì jiǎn chá le zhèng rén de zhèng yán.
The lawyer carefully examined the witness's testimony.
证言。
Zhè fèn zhèng yán jì lù dé hěn xiáng xì.
This deposition record is very detailed.

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.

证 means evidence and 言 means words, together spoken evidence or testimony.

Characters in this word

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 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

言登證

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

登

登dēng證zhèng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

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

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Appears in