话 (huà) means speech, words, or talk. It refers to spoken language and what is said rather than written text (文字). It appears in many compound words: 说话 (to speak), 对话 (dialogue), 电话 (telephone), 普通话 (Mandarin). The measure word for sentences or utterances is 句 (jù), so a sentence is 一句话. 话 can also indicate conditions in the structure 如果...的话 (if...).