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传言 (chuán yán) — (noun) rumor, hearsay; (verb) to spread a rumor, to say (as a rumor)

Definition

传言 (chuányán) is a more formal word for 'rumor' than the colloquial 听说 ('I heard that…'). As a verb, 'it is rumored' — 同义词 传闻 and 谣言 are both formal/near-synonyms at HSK 7.

noun
rumorhearsay
verb
to spread a rumorto say (as a rumor)

Examples

  • 传言。
    Zhè ge chuán yán hěn kuài jiù zài gōng sī lǐ chuán kāi le.
    This rumor quickly spread throughout the company.
  • 传言。
    Yǒu rén chuán yán shuō jīng lǐ yào cí zhí le.
    Someone spread a rumor that the manager is going to resign.
  • 传言。
    Bú yào xiāng xìn nà xiē méi yǒu gēn jù de chuán yán.
    Don't believe those baseless rumors.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

传chuánspread
言yánwords

传 (spread) + 言 (words): to spread words, hence a rumor.

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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.

Open 言 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & Speech

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