说情
shuō qíng · HSK 7
to plead for sb else
🗣️🙏 说 speak + 情 feelings = speak up on someone's feelings, i.e. plead their case
说情 joins 说 (to speak) with 情 (feelings, circumstances). You speak about another person's situation to a third party, asking for mercy or a favor on their behalf. That is interceding or pleading for someone.
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.
情 — heart radical 忄 + 青 (qīng)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals that the meaning involves feelings or inner states, while 青 supplies the sound 'qing'. Originally referring to genuine feelings or emotion arising from the heart, 情 expanded to cover sentiment, affection, and circumstances or situations more broadly.