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言

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: 訁 and 讠

言 U+8A00, 言
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8A00
← 觿
[U+89FF] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 訁 →
[U+8A01]

⾔ U+2F94, ⾔
KANGXI RADICAL SPEECH
← ⾓
[U+2F93] 		Kangxi Radicals ⾕ →
[U+2F95]

Translingual

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Stroke order
Japanese 言
Simplified 言
Traditional 言

Alternative forms

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Note that in Japanese and Korean (printed forms), the 亠 component on top is written 二 (as found in the Kangxi dictionary). In traditional/simplified Chinese and Vietnamese, the top component is written 丶. In written Japanese, the top component may be written either 一, 丶 or 丨 (small vertical stroke).

Han character

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See images of
Radical 149 言

言 (Kangxi radical 149, 言+0, 7 strokes, Cangjie input 卜一一口 (YMMR), four-corner 00601, composition ⿳亠𠄠口(GHTV) or ⿱亖口(JK))

  1. Kangxi radical #149, ⾔.
  2. Shuowen Jiezi radical number 56.

Derived characters

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Additional Derived Characters

See also

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  • 訁／讠 (yán) (when used as a left Chinese radical).

References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 1146, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35205
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1612, character 20
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3936, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+8A00

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 言

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 言
Shang Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (言) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
唁 *ŋrans
這 *ŋrans
言 *ŋan
琂 *ŋan
圁 *ŋrɯn
誾 *ŋrɯn
訔 *ŋrɯn
狺 *ŋrɯn, *ŋɯn

Ideogram (指事) – From 口 and ▽(possibly original form of 弋, marking location). Later: from 口 and 辛 or 䇂 (possibly mixed with 舌).

Possibly related to the semantic family of 舌 ("protruding/emerging", opposite to 音 "converging/covering") or 語 ("facing/front"). May also relate to 獻, 諺, and 唁 ("formal presentation/declaration").

See also 音.

Etymology 1

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According to Schuessler (2007: 74) this word is derived from 語 (OC *ŋaʔ, “to speak”) + -n nominal suffix.

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • ngoeng2/ngyoeng2 - literary;
  • ngyng2 - literary variant.
Note:
  • Haining:
    • 2ghae - vernacular (俗讀);
    • 2gnie - vernacular;
    • 2ye - literary.
  • Jiading:
    • 2gnie - vernacular;
    • 2ye - literary.
  • Shaoxing:
    • 2gnien - traditional;
    • 2yen - new-style.
  • Tongxiang:
    • 2gnie - vernacular;
    • 2ye - literary;
    • 2ghae - alternative, as in 言話.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 言
Mandarin Beijing /iɛn³⁵/
Harbin /ian²⁴/
Tianjin /ian⁴⁵/
Jinan /iã⁴²/
Qingdao /iã⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ian⁴²/
Xi'an /iã²⁴/
Xining /iã²⁴/
Yinchuan /ian⁵³/
Lanzhou /iɛ̃n⁵³/
Ürümqi /ian⁵¹/
Wuhan /iɛn²¹³/
Chengdu /ian³¹/
Guiyang /ian²¹/
Kunming /iɛ̃³¹/
Nanjing /ien²⁴/
Hefei /iĩ⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /ie¹¹/
Pingyao /ȵie̞¹³/
Hohhot /ie³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ɦi²³/
Suzhou /ɦiɪ¹³/
Hangzhou /ɦiẽ̞²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵi³¹/
Hui Shexian /ne⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ȵiɛ⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /iẽ¹³/
Xiangtan /ȵiẽ¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ȵiɛn⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋian¹¹/
Taoyuan /ŋien¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /jin²¹/
Nanning /jin²¹/
Hong Kong /jin²¹/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /gian³⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /ŋyoŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /ŋyiŋ³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /ŋaŋ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ŋin³¹/
/ŋin²¹³/ 俗
/kɔŋ²¹³/ 訓講
Rime
Character 言
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 元 (65)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 語軒切
Baxter ngjon
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ŋɨɐn/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ŋiɐn/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ŋiɐn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ŋɨan/
Li
Rong 		/ŋiɐn/
Wang
Li 		/ŋĭɐn/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ŋɨ̯ɐn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		yán
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		jin4
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 言 言 言 言
Reading # 1/4 2/4 3/4 4/4
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		yán yán yán yán
Middle
Chinese 		‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon › ‹ ngjon ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[n]/ /*ŋa[r]/
English (a particle) I, we speak; speech tall

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 言
Reading # 1/1
No. 14271
Phonetic
component 		言
Rime
group 		元
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		言
Old
Chinese 		/*ŋan/

Definitions

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言

  1. to say; to speak; to talk
    言語／言语  ―  yányu  ―  to speak; to tell
    三思而後言／三思而后言 [Classical Chinese]  ―  sānsī ér hòu yán [Pinyin]  ―  Think before you speak.
  2. to discuss; to comment
  3. to state; to describe; to explain
  4. to write down; to record
  5. to ask; to inquire
  6. to inform; to tell; to let know
  7. spoken language; speech
    語言／语言  ―  yǔyán  ―  language
    諾言／诺言  ―  nuòyán  ―  promise
    發言／发言  ―  fāyán  ―  to make a speech
    謠言／谣言  ―  yáoyán  ―  fabricated rumor
    洋洋萬言／洋洋万言  ―  yángyángwànyán  ―  to be very lengthy (of an article, essay)
    我能留個言嗎？／我能留个言吗？  ―  Wǒ néng liú ge yán ma?  ―  Can I leave a message?
  8. opinion; view; perspective
  9. words; language appropriate to the occasion
  10. proposal; idea; plan
  11. government