speak

Speak is a verb meaning to utter words or articulate sounds to convey information, thoughts, or feelings. It covers producing audible speech, engaging in conversation, giving a spoken statement, and expressing opinions to an audience. The term applies to everyday casual talking as well as formal discourse, such as delivering a speech or giving testimony.

Syntactically, speak can be used both transitively and intransitively. Intransitive: she spoke for several hours. Transitive: he spoke the truth. With languages, it is common to say people speak English, Spanish, or Mandarin. Fixed phrases include speak to someone, speak with someone, speak about a topic, and speak up or speak out for or against something. The choice of form often signals formality or stance.

Morphology and usage: the principal parts are speak, spoke, spoken; the present participle is speaking; the third-person singular is speaks. The related noun is speech, and the agent noun is speaker. Phrasal varieties include speaking comfortably, speaking formally, and speaking on behalf of a group.

Etymology and related terms: speak derives from Old English and is related to Dutch spreken and German sprechen. Related concepts include speech acts in linguistics, general linguistic communication, and technologies involving speech, such as speech synthesis and speech recognition.