说
shuō
Words unspooling from the mouth: 说
The picture Words unspooling from your mouth like thread, reaching toward the other person. 说 pays words out toward the other side; 听 takes in with the ear the words paid out toward you.
Where the picture shows up in 说
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the words carry across
他说明天有空。
tā shuō míngtiān yǒu kòng
He says he's free tomorrow.
The thread of words from his mouth passing through yours and running on, unchanged, to the listener's ear
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you can spool that language out
你会说中文吗？
nǐ huì shuō Zhōngwén ma
Do you speak Chinese?
Chinese unspooling from a mouth in one smooth, unbroken thread
说 is producing speech, 谈 is talking something over, and 告诉 is telling someone a fact.
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words that tie a knot
说好了明天见。
shuōhǎo le míngtiān jiàn
We agreed to meet tomorrow.
Two people's words meeting in the air and pulling tight into a single knot
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the words land on you
老板说了我一顿。
lǎobǎn shuō le wǒ yí dùn
The boss gave me an earful.
The boss's words thickening into a rope and coming down over your shoulders in one long pour
说了我一顿 isn't 'talked about me' — it's 'told me off'.
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no word will cut it cleanly
这件事不好说。
zhè jiàn shì bù hǎo shuō
It's hard to say with this one.
Words starting out and then balling up at the lips, never drawing into a single thread
All of it in one picture
说 is words unspooling from a mouth and reaching toward someone. Let the thread run on unchanged and you are reporting what he said; let it spool out smoothly and you speak the language; let two threads meet and tie and you have an agreement. Let the thread thicken and pour down on someone and you are being told off; let it refuse to draw out at all and it is hard to say. So 说 is not making a sound — it is paying words out until they reach the other side.