话 huà — dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words
他说的话我都听懂了。Tā shuō de huà wǒ dōu tīng dǒng le.I understood everything he said.
Common words: 电话 (diàn huà)、说话 (shuō huà)、打电话 (dǎ diàn huà)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "dialect"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "dialect", including 话 (huà), 语 (yǔ / yù), 啥 (shá). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "dialect" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 话 (huà), 语 (yǔ / yù), 啥 (shá) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span huà, yǔ, yù, shá — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 话 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 话 huàdialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; wordsUseful words: 电话, 说话
- 语 yǔ / yùdialect; language; speech; tell toUseful words: 外语, 语言
- 啥 shá(dialect) whatUseful words: 为啥, 啥子
Common words for these 3 "dialect" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 话 (huà) — so "dialect" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
电话diàn huàtelephone; phone call; phone number说话shuō huàto speak; to say; to talk; to gossip打电话dǎ diàn huàto make a telephone call外语wài yǔforeign language语言yǔ yánlanguage词语cí yǔword (general term including monosyllables through to short phrases); term (e.g. technical term); expression为啥wèi shádialectal equivalent of 为什么啥子shá zi(dialect) what呒啥m shádialectal equivalent of 没什么
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "dialect".
语 yǔ / yù — dialect; language; speech; tell to
汉语是世界上使用人数最多的语言。Hàn yǔ shì shì jiè shàng shǐ yòng rén shù zuì duō de yǔ yán.Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Common words: 外语 (wài yǔ)、语言 (yǔ yán)、词语 (cí yǔ)
啥 shá — (dialect) what
你刚才说啥？我没听清楚。Nǐ gāng cái shuō shá? Wǒ méi tīng qīng chu.What did you just say? I did not hear clearly.
Common words: 为啥 (wèi shá)、啥子 (shá zi)、呒啥 (m shá)
All 3 characters
Open 话、语、啥 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.