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俗话 (sú huà) — common saying; proverb

Definition

俗话 (súhuà) is a folk saying passed down in everyday speech — a short proverb like 功夫不负有心人. Unlike 名言 (a quote from a named person), 俗话 is anonymous and traditional.

noun
common sayingproverb

Examples

  • ，。
    sú huà Shuō, gōng fu bú fù yǒu xīn rén.
    As the saying goes, hard work pays off.
  • 俗话。
    Wǒ tīng guò zhè jù sú huà.
    I've heard this saying.
  • 俗话。
    Bù tóng dì fāng yǒu bù tóng sú huà.
    Different places have different common sayings.

Origin

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.

俗súcommon
话huàspeech

俗 means common and 话 means speech, so the combination refers to a widely used saying.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
谷
谷gǔ俗sú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

俗 is built from 亻, a person, and 谷, which gives the sound; it refers to customs of people.

Open 俗 →

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
言言yánword
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.

Open 话 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Language

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