say/tell/speak/talk
seɪ / tel / spiːk / tɔːk
Say, tell, speak, talk — how far the words travel
The picture Words leaving your mouth and hanging in the air is say; the same words flying across and landing in someone's ear is tell; a mouth simply working in a language is speak; two mouths passing words back and forth is talk. SAY is the words out; TELL is the person they land on; TALK is words going both ways.
Where the picture shows up in say/tell/speak/talk
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the words themselves
She said she'd call back later.
ʃiː sed ʃiːd kɔːl bæk ˈleɪtə
She said she'd call back later.
Putting the receiver down and passing on the one line you just heard, word for word
Never put a person straight after say — not say me, but say to me.
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landing on a listener
Please tell the doctor where it hurts.
pliːz tel ðə ˈdɒktə weə ɪt hɜːts
Please tell the doctor where it hurts.
A patient's words flying across like an arrow and landing in the doctor's ear
A listener comes straight after tell: tell the doctor, tell me.
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a mouth working in a language
Do you speak English?
duː juː spiːk ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ
Do you speak English?
Waiting at a counter to hear which language the other mouth is going to move in
With the name of a language it is almost always speak.
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words going both ways
Can we talk for a minute after the meeting?
kən wiː tɔːk fər ə ˈmɪnɪt ˈɑːftə ðə ˈmiːtɪŋ
Can we talk for a minute after the meeting?
Two people standing face to face in a corridor, handing words back and forth
Talk is done with someone, so it takes with or to.
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both in one sentence
He told me not to say anything to the boss.
hiː təʊld miː nɒt tə seɪ ˈeniθɪŋ tə ðə bɒs
He told me not to say anything to the boss.
One person pushing a warning into your ear while your own mouth closes so nothing leaves it toward the boss
told me is where it landed; say anything is what would come out.
All of it in one picture
After said comes the content, and the listener stays out of the frame. After tell the listener arrives immediately — tell the doctor, tell me. Speak asks whether a mouth can work in that language at all, while talk is the picture of words crossing between two people. One sentence holding both makes it obvious: told me is where the words landed, say anything is the words that would leave your mouth.