言行
yánxíng · HSK 7
words and deeds
🗣️👣 言 (words) + 行 (deeds) = what you say plus what you do
言 means speech or words; 行 means to walk, act, or conduct. Together 言行 covers both halves of a person: their talk and their action — handy for phrases about whether the two match.
行 — crossroads pictograph (left 彳 + right 亍)
行 originally pictured a four-way crossroads in oracle bone script, with two paths meeting. From 'road' it extended to 'walk, go, travel,' and then to 'a row, line' or 'business firm' (read háng). The two halves 彳 and 亍 are the split sides of that ancient crossroads.