말하다
malhada · TOPIK 1
to speak, say
💬 말 (mal) = speech, words + 하다 (hada) = to do: to do speech
말 is the native Korean noun for speech or words, and 하다 is the all-purpose verb to do. Glue them together and you literally do words, which is to speak. The same noun + 하다 pattern builds hundreds of Korean verbs, like 공부하다 (to study).