Radical 讠

9 strokes

說

words 讠 (67c) + convert 兌 (67b) = say 说

Another ghostly archetype (see the text after Character 59), which means “sho” from the soundword is changed into “shuo”. We won’t mention this every time it occurs from now on.

[小说 (50) xiǎoshuō a novel]

(A new aid for blind people has been invented) “all you have to do is run this gadget over the written words and it will convert them into signals which it can then say out loud.” / The ghostly giant (who is the guardian of this new device) shows the blind people how to use it.

mouth 口 (5) + boy 儿 (21) = older brother 兄

There is also another character for “older brother” which we’ll meet presently.

At the mouth of the cave the boy is acting as a look-out for his older brother (who has sneaked inside to see what’s in there). / [No pronunciation needed]

horns 丷 (65a) + older brother 兄 (67a) = convert 兌

“I found these horns,” the little girl says, holding them up proudly. “My older brother is going to convert them into something for me to play with.” / [No pronunciation needed]

This common component, which appears on the left-hand side of characters, is a simplification of the character 言 which we’ll meet later (Character 375). In our stories we usually refer to words which are written down rather than spoken.