忠言 (zhōng yán) — sincere advice; earnest counsel

Definition

忠言 means 'sincere, well-meant advice' — often paired with 逆耳 ('harsh to the ear') in the set phrase 忠言逆耳, noting that honest counsel is hard to hear.

noun

sincere adviceearnest counsel

忠言，。
zhōng yán Nì ěr, dàn hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
Sincere advice is hard to hear, but it is very helpful.
忠言。
Nǐ yīng gāi tīng tā de zhōng yán.
You should listen to his sincere advice.
忠言。
Wǒ gěi nǐ yí jù zhōng yán.
Let me give you a piece of sincere advice.

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.

忠zhōngsincere/earnest

言yánadvice/words

忠言 joins 忠, meaning 'sincere/earnest', with 言, 'advice/words', to give 'sincere counsel'.

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.

中心忠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

中

Same sound today

忠 pairs 心, meaning heart, with 中, which gives its sound.

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.