言词 (yán cí) — words, speech, expression

Definition

Refers to what someone says — the words or speech itself, often with a sense of how forcefully or carefully they are chosen. Tends to appear in written or formal contexts, e.g. in news or literary prose.

noun
wordsspeechexpression
Easily confused

Examples

  • 言词。
    Tā de yán cí fēi cháng yǒu lì.
    His words were very powerful.
  • 言词。
    Zhè piān yǎn jiǎng de yán cí ràng rén shēn sī.
    The words of this speech made people think deeply.
  • 言词。
    Wǒ men bú yīng gāi yòng jī liè de yán cí shāng rén.
    We should not hurt others with harsh words.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

言yánword
词cíword

言 'word' and 词 'word' are parallel and together mean speech or wording.

Characters in this word

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.

Open 言 →

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →

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