恶言 (è yán) — abusive or vicious remarks; harsh language

Definition

noun

abusive or vicious remarksharsh language

恶言。
Tā shuō huà zǒng shì chōng mǎn è yán.
He always speaks with abusive language.
恶言。
Bú yào duì bié rén shuō è yán.
Don't speak abusive words to others.
恶言。
Tā yīn wèi shuō è yán ér bèi pī píng le.
He was criticized for using vicious language.

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.

恶èvicious

“恶” gives vicious and “言” gives words, so together they mean harsh language.

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 惡; 恶 is its simplified writing.

亞心惡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

亞

亞yā惡è

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 惡 pairs 心 (heart) as the meaning part with 亞 (yā) as the sound part; the simplified 恶 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