话语 (huà yǔ) — words; speech (what someone says or has said);…

Definition

话语 often appears in academic/sociopolitical contexts ('discourse,' as in 话语分析). For everyday 'words/speech' use 词 or 言语 instead.

noun

wordsspeech (what someone says or has said)discourseutterancediscourse (a unit of language, often in academic or sociopolitical contexts, e.g., 话语分析)

Measure word · 句

。
Tā de huà yǔ chōng mǎn le zhì huì.
His words are full of wisdom.
，。
Zài zhè cì huì yì shàng, lǐng dǎo rén de huà yǔ yǐn qǐ le guǎng fàn tǎo lùn.
At this meeting, the leader's discourse sparked widespread discussion.
话语。
huà yǔ Fēn xī shì yǔ yán xué de yí gè zhòng yào fēn zhī.
Discourse analysis is an important branch of linguistics.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

话 (speech) and 语 (words) together mean spoken words or discourse.

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 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.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

Appears in