说

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 说 (shuō) is composed of two parts: the radical 言 (yán), which means "speech" or "language," and the phonetic component 月 (yuè), which is pronounced similarly to the character 说. The radical 言 indicates that 说 is related to speaking or communication, while the phonetic component 月 provides a hint about its pronunciation.The earliest known form of 说 appears in oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). In these inscriptions, 说 is depicted as a person with their mouth open, symbolizing the act of speaking. Over time, the character evolved into its current form, which was standardized during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD).The character 说 has several meanings in Chinese. It can mean "to speak," "to talk," "to say," or "to tell." It can also be used as a noun to refer to "speech," "language," or "a saying." In addition, 说 can be used as a verb-object compound to express the idea of "to persuade," "to convince," or "to explain."For example, the sentence 我说中文 (wǒ shuō zhōngwén) means "I speak Chinese," while the sentence 他说得很清楚 (tā shuō dé hěn qīngchu) means "He speaks very clearly." The character 说 can also be used in more complex sentences, such as 我想说服他 (wǒ xiǎng shuōfú tā), which means "I want to persuade him."In conclusion, the Chinese character 说 has a rich history and a variety of meanings. It is an important character for HSK learners to master, as it is used frequently in everyday speech and writing.