老话 (lǎo huà) — old saying; adage; remarks about the old days; reminiscences

Definition

Two related senses: an old saying or adage, and informal talk about the past. The 'old saying' sense is what most learners need — use it with 说 to introduce a proverb.

noun
old sayingadageremarks about the old daysreminiscences
Measure word · 句
Easily confused

Examples

  • 老话，，。
    lǎo huà Shuō, huó dào lǎo, xué dào lǎo.
    As the old saying goes, "Live and learn."
  • 老话。
    Yé ye xǐ huan jiǎng guò qù de lǎo huà.
    Grandpa likes to tell stories about the old days.
  • 老话。
    Xiàn dài de nián qīng rén hěn shǎo tīng nà xiē lǎo lǎo huà.
    Modern young people rarely listen to those old 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.

老lǎoold
话huàwords

老 means old, 话 means words or talk; 老话 is an old saying or talk about the past.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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 →

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