言 is a bound form (b.f.) that primarily means 'speech, word, talk'. It never appears by itself in modern Chinese but is the core of many common compounds like 语言 (language), 发言 (to speak), 言论 (speech/opinion), and 言谈 (manner of speaking). In classical Chinese and fixed expressions (e.g. 总而言之 'in a word') it can stand alone. In poetry, 言 refers to the number of characters per line, as in 五言诗 (five-character poem).