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而言

Mandarin · pinyin ér yán

(typically preceded by 就…jiù xx or 對…|对…duì xx etc) as far as ... is concerned; speaking in terms of ...

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Characters in this entry

而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · er2 yan2

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

to be regarding; to be in terms of; to be speaking of; to be as far as something is concerned

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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