早口
はやくち · hayakuchi · JLPT N2 · noun
fast-talking
👄 早 (hayai, fast) + 口 (kuchi, mouth) = a fast mouth, so fast-talking
早 is read hayai here and means fast or early, as in 早い. 口 means mouth. Together they describe a mouth that moves quickly when speaking.
早 — sun 日 + ten 十 (originally 甲, a helmet/sprout)
Originally depicted the sun 日 rising above a sprouting plant or a person's head, suggesting the early morning when the sun first appears. The lower component was simplified over time into 十. The core meaning 'morning, early' has remained stable since oracle bone script.
口 — pictograph of an open mouth
口 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn as a simple outline of an open mouth. Its core meaning 'mouth' extended naturally to 'opening' or 'entrance', as in 入口 (entrance). It also serves as a common radical in characters related to speech, eating, or apertures.