说
shuō · HSK 1
to say
💬 讠(speech radical) + 兑 (exchange) — speech you exchange = to speak
The 讠 radical on the left marks speech-related characters. The right side 兑 (duì, exchange) hints at the sound shuō and the idea of words traded back and forth. Compare 话 (speech), 语 (language), 谈 (talk).
说 — speech radical 讠(言) + 兑
说 combines the speech radical 讠(言, 'words') with 兑, which acts as the phonetic component. The character originally meant 'to explain' or 'to speak,' and broadened to mean 'say' or 'talk.' The same graph is also read 'yuè' meaning 'pleased,' a sense later written 悦.