slander
English · slander
slander
- 造谣诽谤zàoyáo fěibàngto spread rumors and slander
- 诽誉fěiyùslander and praise (criticism and acclaim)
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left speech radical (讠) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the remaining two-thirds for the right phonetic component (非), keeping both sides balanced in height.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 誹 uses the full 言 radical on the left, which is simplified to 讠 in modern Chinese.
Radical 讠 · Speech Radical (Speech, words, language)
Semantic Clue (形旁): 讠 (Indicates that the action involves speaking or words (slander is verbal attack).)
Phonetic Clue (声旁): 非 (original sound: fēi)
Combining 'Speech' (讠) with 'Wrong/Not' (非): speaking wrong, false, or negative words about someone equals slander.
- 讠 Speech radical
- 非 Not, wrong, non-
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
26· Phonetic Root: 非 (fēi)Origin: Formed by combining 言 (speech) as the semantic indicator and 非 (not/wrong, also providing the phonetic fēi) to denote speaking wrongly or defaming someone.
Semantic Evolution: Originally referred broadly to criticism or speaking against wrongdoing, but over time narrowed specifically to slander, defamation, and malicious gossip.
- In ancient times, a 'fěi' wood (诽木) was a post erected outside government offices where commoners could write criticisms of the ruler.
With your **speech** (讠), you claim that someone did something **wrong** (**非**), which turns out to be malicious **slander** (fěi).
fěiConfusing the phonetic component 非 with similar box-like structures, or misapplying the 3rd tone when reading it in rapid compound words.
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
Results are live YouTube search — accents and levels aren't verified.