言
marks a character as having to do with speaking · Kangxi radical 149
marks a character as having to do with speaking, words, and what is said
The old graph for 言 drew a mouth with something coming out of it — a tongue, or a flute-like tongue-reed — with a line across it to suggest sound leaving the lips. In the modern character you can still read the bottom half as the mouth 口, with the stacked horizontal strokes above it as the tongue and the sound rising out. Whether the top part was originally a tongue or a mouth-organ is disputed, but the picture of noise issuing from a mouth is clear. So 言 lends the sense of speech to characters like 唁 (speak words of condolence) and 詈 (speak abuse, curse), and appears squeezed into compounds such as 信 and 訇.
言 at a glance
- Meaning
- marks a character as having to do with speaking
- Strokes
- 7
- Characters
- 162
- Role
- Contributes meaning
- Kangxi radical
- 149
Characters with 言 (14 of 162)
HSK 3 · 1
HSK 5 · 1
HSK 6 · 1
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 言 mean?
言 means "marks a character as having to do with speaking". In the characters that contain it, it contributes meaning.
How many Chinese characters contain 言?
162 characters in this dictionary contain 言, including ones at HSK 3, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 言 a radical?
Yes — 言 is Kangxi radical 149, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 言 have?
言 is written in 7 strokes.