Sept 14, 2020, 09:38
In English the word 'language' comes from ’lingua‘ according to that dictionary with the latter means ’tongue'. Of course you can't speak without the movement of the tongue.
In Chinese we have 语(yu） for language. What is the relationship between the shape and the meaning of the character?
The ancient form of 语 is 語 with the 言（yan) representing ‘words’. ;
五 is ‘five' and 口 shapes like the ’mouth'. What has five mouths? Ho, we chinese draw five holes including two eyes, two nose holes and one mouth for the picture of the face. In ancient China people used ‘吾' to represent ’ I “ or ‘me’.
Really the five main organs in the head play an important role for speaking.
Now as an English teacher, I think the ears are more important than the nose for language learning since ninety percent of the deaf are dumb.
So， a good speaker should have sharp eyes for observation, sensitive ears for listening, and one hard-working mouth for expressing ideas. For children they do more job on reading and listening for their own speaking.
(The above will be part of my lecture for the newcomers. ）
As a teacher, you should know that hanyu pinyin without the tone symbol is meaningless; so 'yu' in your example should be 3rd tone, and therefore it should have that symbol on its top! I know you are trying to be helpful to those of us who know little Chinese, but it is not helpful without the tone symbol.
Thanks for your comment on my topic!
Here I would like reply you in this way as the following:
I live in countryside where it is hard for me to get such a book from the local bookstore or library. We are interested in the invention of each word of any language！I notice that different dictionaries offer us different explainings to each same English word. It is natural that everyone has his or her own understanding to the art work created by ancient people! I feel happy to discuss some interesting characters with reader friends through the Forum. I think it is helpful for foreign friends to better understand Chinese traditional culture!
In China there is a sound political term that is 实事求是: Try to find out the truth from the facts. In other words, you have no right to make any mark on something without seeing or hearing about it. That is just what the body language of 语 shows!
This also reminds me another Chinese phrase 聪明（cong-ming) that means ‘clever’ or ‘wisdom’. In which 耳 refers to ‘ear’ and 总 means ‘summarize’，Yes, the function of the ears is to collect the useful sound signals from the outside world for your upcoming actions; 明 consists of 日（the Sun) and 月 （the Moon) that represents what you see through the eyeballs. Your speech depends on what you have seen and heard. In the language class we should emphasize the importance of eyes and ears for the actions of the mouth!
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