据传 (jù chuán) — it is said that; according to rumor

Definition

Written/formal phrase meaning 'reportedly / according to rumor' — used in news or academic writing to attribute unverified information. No listed near-synonyms; pair with a clause, not a direct quote.

verb
it is said thataccording to rumor

Examples

  • 据传。
    jù chuán Tā xià ge yuè huì cí zhí.
    Rumor has it that he will resign next month.
  • 据传。
    jù chuán Nà chǎng shì gù shì rén wéi zào chéng de.
    According to rumor, that accident was caused by human error.
  • 据传。
    jù chuán Zhè jiā gōng sī jí jiāng bèi shōu gòu.
    Rumor has it that this company is about to be acquired.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

据jùrely on
传chuánrumor

“据” means rely on and “传” means rumor; together it means what is said to be true by 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
居
居jū据jù
Same sound today

据 uses 手 (hand) as one part and 居 to give the sound.

Open 据 →

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 →

Grammar

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