谎言 (huǎng yán) — lie; falsehood | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A written-form noun for 'lie / falsehood.' Both 谎话 and 谎言 name the thing itself; 谎话 is more colloquial, 谎言 sounds formal and abstract. Use 说谎 or 撒谎 for the verb 'to lie.'

noun

liefalsehood

Measure word · 个

Examples

谎言，。
Tā shuō de quán shì huǎng yán, bié xiāng xìn.
Everything he said was a lie; don't believe it.
谎言。
Zhè ge huǎng yán zuì zhōng bèi jiē chuān le.
This lie was finally exposed.
谎言。
Tā yīn wèi yí gè huǎng yán shī qù le suǒ yǒu rén de xìn rèn.
She lost everyone's trust because of one lie.

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.

A 谎 (false) utterance is a 言 (spoken word), so 谎言 means a lie.

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 謊; 谎 is its simplified writing.

言荒謊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

荒

荒huāng謊huǎng

Same sound today

The traditional form 謊 pairs 言 (speech) with 荒, which shows how it was pronounced; the simplified 谎 is a later shorthand.

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.

Appears in

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