<p>All Chinese character has its meaning or meanings. Some can be used as a word on its own, </p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>Noun: </p>

<ul>
<li>人(person(/ people/ human)</li>
<li>火(fire)   </li>
<li>山(hill/ mountain) </li>
</ul>

<p>Verb: </p>

<ul>
<li>殺(kill)</li>
<li>跑(run)</li>
<li>吃(eat)</li>
</ul>

<p>Adjective: </p>

<ul>
<li>大(big)</li>
<li>小(small)</li>
<li>好(good) </li>
</ul>

<p>However, the majority of Chinese words are composed of two characters. </p>

<p>For example: </p>

<ul>
<li>正確(correct) </li>
<li>討論(discuss/ discussion)</li>
<li>明白(understand) </li>
</ul>

<p>*See reference <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21875/how-to-determine-if-character-can-be-used-separetely">here</a> </p>

<p>As for your question: </p>

<ul>
<li><p><strong>說</strong> is mostly a verb for "<strong>speak</strong>" or "<strong>talk</strong>" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words. For example: 演說 (lecture/ public speech), 說服(convince/ persuade), 說明(explain)</p></li>
<li><p><strong>話</strong> is mostly a noun for "<strong>spoken words</strong>" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 謊話(lie), 說話(speak/ talk) , 對話(conversation)</p></li>
<li><p><strong>語</strong> is mostly a noun for "<strong>language</strong>" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 語言(language), 英語 (English), 語音(speech tone)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Many characters' original meaning had became obsolete. These characters only become meaningful when they are a part of a "two characters word" or a part of a "four characters phrase". One good example would be "黷" in "<a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/60796/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">窮兵黷武</a>" . The character: "黷" itself originally meant "act wantonly" but today, no one would use this character on its own except in the idiom 窮兵黷武. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T14:41:48.067Z
Thank you very much Tang Ho for your answer. I am beginning to learn, and many books and applications learn us the meaning of single characters, "real" words coming later. Hence I stick a little on those meaning... and it remains an efficient tool to remember more efficiently the words ;)
Desiderius Severus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T12:31:43.760Z
2016-12-08T15:04:37.547Z
2017-04-13T12:48:06.093Z
Tang Ho
<p>as  a Chinese we can say 说，means talk ,it'sjust a ver, 
话 means a sentence, these two words  are often used  on dailylife</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T11:17:25.067Z
2016-12-08T11:17:25.067Z
Andyzhang
<p>I just arrived in this warm community and am glad to find a stackexchange about Chinese language. I merely began to learning Chinese and find it really exciting, yet many of uses and conventions are neither so clear to me, nor really explained -- or even underlined -- in my learning books and websites.</p>

<p>So here is my question: <strong>I feel a bit confused concerning the different sinograms relatives to the language and the speech</strong>. Here is what I induce from tremendously few examples and a lot of mystical extrapolations:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>说 (shuo1)</strong> means "to talk, to speak, to say" (i.e. talking in a general, theoretical way, referring to the idea/potentiality of speaking)</li>
<li><strong>话 (hua4)</strong> means "dialect, spoken word" (i.e. talking in a practical, pragmatic way, referring to the act/practical skill of speaking)</li>
<li><strong>语 (yu3)</strong> means "language" (i.e. the abstract building which is a language, endowed with its rules and theories)</li>
</ul>

<p>Here I compared the three with two probable bias:</p>

<ul>
<li>I assume sinograms to have a proper meaning by itself, which seems to rarely be the case</li>
<li>I propose the translations treating them sometimes as nouns, sometimes as verbs, even if it seems to be an irrelevant distinction in Chinese</li>
</ul>

<p>Thus I add two more general questions about the Chinese language:</p>

<ul>
<li>Are sinograms really used sometimes by themselves and understood like that, or do they only carry a meaning when cristalized in a "word" ? (That is to say : is my question relevant or is it more a meta-question for linguists and language anthropologists ?)</li>
<li>Do those three have "preferred" grammatical functions ? That 说 more often used as a verb and 语 more as a noun ? Or is my comparison of significations meaningful ?</li>
</ul>

<p>谢谢 and sorry for the possible lack of precision :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T15:20:37.723Z
Something you may find interesting: Mandarin - 为什么说。。。 Cantonese - 点解话。。。
rhughes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T16:13:00.100Z
@rhughes Indeed, we are far from a language with a rigid meaning for its characters ^^
Desiderius Severus
<translation><meaning><characters><difference><learning>
Meaning and use of ideograms around "language" : 说，话，语
# Meaning and use of ideograms around "language" : 说，话，语

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-08)

I just arrived in this warm community and am glad to find a stackexchange about Chinese language. I merely began to learning Chinese and find it really exciting, yet many of uses and conventions are neither so clear to me, nor really explained -- or even underlined -- in my learning books and websites.

So here is my question: **I feel a bit confused concerning the different sinograms relatives to the language and the speech**. Here is what I induce from tremendously few examples and a lot of mystical extrapolations:

* **说 (shuo1)** means "to talk, to speak, to say" (i.e. talking in a general, theoretical way, referring to the idea/potentiality of speaking)
* **话 (hua4)** means "dialect, spoken word" (i.e. talking in a practical, pragmatic way, referring to the act/practical skill of speaking)
* **语 (yu3)** means "language" (i.e. the abstract building which is a language, endowed with its rules and theories)

Here I compared the three with two probable bias:

* I assume sinograms to have a proper meaning by itself, which seems to rarely be the case
* I propose the translations treating them sometimes as nouns, sometimes as verbs, even if it seems to be an irrelevant distinction in Chinese

Thus I add two more general questions about the Chinese language:

* Are sinograms really used sometimes by themselves and understood like that, or do they only carry a meaning when cristalized in a "word" ? (That is to say : is my question relevant or is it more a meta-question for linguists and language anthropologists ?)
* Do those three have "preferred" grammatical functions ? That 说 more often used as a verb and 语 more as a noun ? Or is my comparison of significations meaningful ?

谢谢 and sorry for the possible lack of precision :)

**Tags:** translation, meaning, characters, difference, learning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Something you may find interesting: Mandarin - 为什么说。。。 Cantonese - 点解话。。。  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Indeed, we are far from a language with a rigid meaning for its characters ^^  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-12-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

All Chinese character has its meaning or meanings. Some can be used as a word on its own,

For example:

Noun:

* 人(person(/ people/ human)
* 火(fire)
* 山(hill/ mountain)

Verb:

* 殺(kill)
* 跑(run)
* 吃(eat)

Adjective:

* 大(big)
* 小(small)
* 好(good)

However, the majority of Chinese words are composed of two characters.

For example:

* 正確(correct)
* 討論(discuss/ discussion)
* 明白(understand)

\*See reference [here](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21875/how-to-determine-if-character-can-be-used-separetely)

As for your question:

* **說** is mostly a verb for "**speak**" or "**talk**" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words. For example: 演說 (lecture/ public speech), 說服(convince/ persuade), 說明(explain)
* **話** is mostly a noun for "**spoken words**" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 謊話(lie), 說話(speak/ talk) , 對話(conversation)
* **語** is mostly a noun for "**language**" but it can combine with other characters to form more specific words, for example: 語言(language), 英語 (English), 語音(speech tone)

Many characters' original meaning had became obsolete. These characters only become meaningful when they are a part of a "two characters word" or a part of a "four characters phrase". One good example would be "黷" in "[窮兵黷武](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/60796/)" . The character: "黷" itself originally meant "act wantonly" but today, no one would use this character on its own except in the idiom 窮兵黷武.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you very much username_2 Ho for your answer. I am beginning to learn, and many books and applications learn us the meaning of single characters, "real" words coming later. Hence I stick a little on those meaning... and it remains an efficient tool to remember more efficiently the words ;)  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-12-08. Score: 0

as a Chinese we can say 说，means talk ,it'sjust a ver,
话 means a sentence, these two words are often used on dailylife


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