言【Yán】 to speak | to say | talk | word
In the Oracle Bone Script, the lower part of this character is "tongue"(舌 Shé), and a horizontal stroke on the top means using the tongue to speak.
As a left-side radical,言 is written as 讠. Chinese Characters with the radical 讠 are usually related to language such as: Shuō-说-speaking, Tán-谈-talking, Huà-话-dialect, etc.
这个字的甲骨文是指事字。在甲骨文中，它的下半部分是“舌”字，上面一横表示动舌头讲话。
“言”做偏旁时，写成“讠”。“言字旁”的字通常与语言有关。比如：说、谈、话等。
Link: Chinese characters with the radical 讠
