The word "Shuo" has several pronunciations.

The pronunciation of the word "Shuo" is very clear. No matter Modern Chinese Dictionary, Cihai, Ciyuan or Ancient Chinese Dictionary, there are four pronunciations, and their meanings and usage characteristics are clear. When you read Shuowen, the first meaning is to speak, such as "speaking". Secondly, meaning includes explanation, opinion, criticism, introduction and so on. On second reading, shuì means persuading people to obey their own opinions by words, such as "lobbying"; Read yuè for the third time. In ancient Chinese, it was connected with "Yue". For example, "It's not bad to learn from time to time." The four readings of "Tu" are interlinked with "Tuo" in ancient Chinese. Such as "spokes" (refers to the parts that hook the axle and the carriage). However, in recent years, there has been some confusion in the pronunciation of "Shuo" in society, mainly because it should be pronounced as "Shu f ú" when the phrase "persuade" is formed, but some people pronounce it as "Shu fú". Not only some ordinary people, but also some lines in TV dramas and even some cultural forums, some professors and associate professors also make such mistakes. This will inevitably lead to misinformation and misleading. Therefore, we should treat them differently. Why can't the word "persuade" be pronounced "Shu"? Because it does not conform to the pronunciation meaning and usage characteristics of "Shuo". As I said before, "speaking", pronounced "Shu", means "persuading people to obey their own opinions with words". Its use features are: the word "Shuo" expresses this meaning independently, without the help of other words; And its use environment can only be in ancient Chinese. For example, "Touching the dragon said (Shu) Zhao" (out of the Warring States Policy IV, which means touching the dragon to persuade Zhao to obey his own opinions) and "Guangwudi said (Shu) became (out of historical records, which means Guangwudi advised Cheng to obey his own opinions). Although "Shuo" sometimes forms phrases with other words and spreads to modern Chinese, such as "yóu shuì" and "shuìkè", it does not mean that it must use other words to express the meaning of "persuading people to obey their opinions with words". In other words, this meaning is expressed independently by the word "Shuo". The other word combined with it does not participate in expressing this meaning, but is only responsible for expressing other meanings. For example, the word "Shuo" in "lobbying" independently expresses the meaning of "persuading people to obey their own opinions by words", while the word "You" expresses another meaning, that is, the meaning of "traveling", indicating the way and conditions of "Shuo", indicating that the activity of "Shuo" is completed in the process of "traveling around countries (places)". For example, the word "Shuo" in "lobbyist" independently expresses the meaning of "persuading people to obey their own opinions with words", while the word "guest" expresses another meaning, that is, "Shu" is an explanation of this person's specific functions. Explain that this person's role is to persuade others to obey a certain claim they have identified. And "persuasion" is different. First of all, it is not an original phrase spread from ancient Chinese to modern Chinese. We looked up Ci Yuan and Ancient Chinese Dictionary, and there was neither the word "Shuo Fu" nor the word "Shuo Fu". In other words, it can only be a modern Chinese vocabulary, which has nothing to do with ancient Chinese. Therefore, it is incomparable with phrases such as "yóu shuì" and "shuìkè" (both originated from ancient Chinese and spread in modern Chinese). Of course, the word "Shuo" cannot be pronounced in the same way. Secondly, in modern Chinese, "persuasion" means "convincing the other side with reasonable and well-founded words", which seems to be similar to "persuading people to obey their own opinions with words". However, this meaning is not independently expressed by the word "Shuo". "Say" here only means "say", while "persuade" means "persuade people (or make them obey their own opinions)". The combination of the two forms the meaning of "convincing each other with reasonable words", and it does not conform to the meaning and usage characteristics of the word "Shu", so it cannot be pronounced as "Shu". Thirdly, if the word "Shuo" in Persuasion is read as Shu, it means that it independently expresses the meaning of "persuading people to obey their own opinions with words" (or "convincing people with sufficient reasons"), so the word "Fu" is an unnecessary existence and logically unreasonable. Fourthly, there is no doubt that the phonetic notation of the word persuasion in Modern Chinese Dictionary and Cihai is clearly marked with "Shu f ú" instead of "Shu fú".