說

See also: 説 and 说

Translingual

Stroke order

shinjitai	説
simplified	说
traditional	說

Han character

說 (radical 149 言+7, 14 strokes, cangjie input 卜口金口山 (YRCRU), four-corner 0861₆, composition ⿰言兌)

1. speak, say, talk
2. scold, upbraid

References

• KangXi: page 1164, character 8
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 35556
• Dae Jaweon: page 1629, character 14
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 6, page 3979, character 3
• Unihan data for U+8AAA

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Chinese

		-
trad.		說
simp.		说

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shuō (shuo¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄛ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): syut³
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): sot
• Min Nan (POJ): soat / soeh / seh

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: shuō
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄛ
    • Wade-Giles: shuo¹
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shuo
    • IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: syut³
    • Yale: syut
    • Cantonese Pinyin: syt⁸
    • IPA ^(key): /ɕyːt̚³/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sot
    • IPA (Siyen, including Miaoli): /sot̚²/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: soat / soeh / seh
    • Tâi-lô: suat / sueh / seh
    • IPA (Taipei): /suat̚³²/, /sueʔ³²/, /seʔ³²/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /suat̚³²/, /sueʔ³²/, /seʔ³²/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (說, reconstructed)
Character (說), Pronunciation 1/3
Initial: 書 (26) Final: 祭 Division: III			Openness: Closed Tone: Departing (H)			Fanqie: 舒芮切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ɕiuᴇiH/	/ɕi̯wɛiH/	/ɕiuɛiH/	/ɕʷiɛiH/	/ɕwiajH/	/ɕĭwɛiH/	/ɕiuæiH/
Character (說), Pronunciation 2/3
Initial: 以 (36) Final: 薛 Division: III			Openness: Closed Tone: Checked (Ø)			Fanqie: 弋雪切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/jiuᴇt̚/	/i̯wɛt̚/	/iuɛt̚/	/jʷiɛt̚/	/jwiat̚/	/jĭuɛt̚/	/juæt̚/
Character (說), Pronunciation 3/3
Initial: 書 (26) Final: 薛 Division: III			Openness: Closed Tone: Checked (Ø)			Fanqie: 失爇切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ɕiuᴇt̚/	/ɕi̯wɛt̚/	/ɕiuɛt̚/	/ɕʷiɛt̚/	/ɕwiat̚/	/ɕĭuɛt̚/	/ɕjuæt̚/

Old Chinese pronunciation (說, reconstructed)

Noun

說

1. (literary) theory; explanation

Verb

說

1. (Beginning Mandarin) to speak; to say; to explain

   神說，諸水之間要有空氣，將水分為上下。 [MSC, trad.]

   神说，诸水之间要有空气，将水分为上下。 [MSC, simp.]

   Shén shuō, zhū shuǐ zhījiān yào yǒu kōngqì, jiāng shuǐ fēnwèi shàngxià. [Pinyin]

   And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

   你會說漢語嗎？ [MSC, trad.]

   你会说汉语吗？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ huì shuō hànyǔ ma? [Pinyin]

   Can you speak Chinese?

2. to criticize, to scold, to upbraid

   你怎麼天天都說我？ [MSC, trad.]

   你怎么天天都说我？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ zěnme tiāntiān dōu shuō wǒ? [Pinyin]

   Why do you constantly criticize me?

Synonyms

• 講／讲

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shuì (shui⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: shuì
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄟˋ
    • Wade-Giles: shui⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shuey
    • IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi⁵
    • Yale: séuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soei⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • POJ: shòi (shoi³)
    • Guangdong: soi⁵
    • Hagfa Pinyim: soi4

Verb

說

1. (literary) to persuade

Etymology 3

Alternative form of 悅／悦.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuè (yue⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyut⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄝˋ
    • Wade-Giles: yüeh⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yueh
    • IPA ^(key): /y̯œ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyut⁶
    • Yale: yuht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyt⁹
    • IPA ^(key): /jyːt̚²/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • POJ: ye̍t (yet⁸)
    • Guangdong: jet⁸ [Siyan], jet⁸ [Bao'an]
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yad6

Verb

說

1. (archaic, classical) to delight in; to be happy about

   學而時習之，不亦說乎？ [MSC, trad.]

   学而时习之，不亦说乎？ [MSC, simp.]

   Xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū? [Pinyin]

   Isn't it a thing worthy to be happy about to learn and then study frequently?

Compounds

derivations

說白了 說不得 說不定 說不好 說辭 說到 說道 說的上話 說得著 說動 說法 說服 說話 說話就 說謊 說客 說開 說瞭算 說夢話 說明 說明書 說破 說情, 說情兒 說三道四 說死 說死說話 說是 說頭兒 說妥 說下 說現成話 說笑 說一不二 說走了嘴 說嘴 說曹操，曹操就到 說時遲，那時快 日心說 遊說

External links

• Guoyu Cidian (國語辭典): shuì
• Guoyu Cidian (國語辭典): shuō
• Guoyu Cidian (國語辭典): yuè

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Japanese

Kanji

說

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 説)

1. opinion
2. theory
3. explanation
4. rumor

Readings

• On: せつ (setsu), ぜい (zei), えつ (etsu)
• Kun: とく (toku)

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Korean

Hanja

說 (seol, se, yeol) (hangeul 설, 세, 열, revised seol, se, yeol, McCune-Reischauer sŏl, se, yŏl, Yale sel, sey, yel)

1. explain
2. speak
3. talk

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Vietnamese

Han character

說 (thuyết)

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