说说 (shuō shuo) — to talk a bit, to have a chat, to say something…

Definition

说说 is the light, brief version of 说 — adding the reduplication signals 'just chat a bit' or 'say a few words', not a full discussion. Common after 跟… (chat with someone) or 想/先 (want to / first).

bound form

to talk a bitto have a chatto say something briefly (reduplicated form of 说)

Examples

说说。
Wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ shuō shuo wǒ men zhōu mò de jì huà.
I'd like to chat with you about our weekend plans.
说说。
Tā shuō shuo le zì jǐ zuì jìn de shēng huó.
She talked a little about her recent life.
说说，。
Nǐ men xiān shuō shuo, wǒ qù mǎi xiē yǐn liào.
You guys chat for a bit; I'll go buy some drinks.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

说shuōsay

说 repeated gives a brief, casual sense, 'say something' or 'talk a bit.'

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 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

言兌說

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yán

Sound part声符shēngfú

兌

兌duì說shuō

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

The traditional form 說 pairs 言 (meaning) with 兌 (sound); the simplified 说 is not the form described here.

Open 说 →