On reading compounds

• 弁 【ベン】 speech, tongue, talk, eloquence, dialect, brogue, accent, bento, Japanese box lunch, petal, valve, Oversight Department, division of the daijokan under the ritsuryō system responsible for controlling central and provincial governmental offices
• 弁解 【ベンカイ】 explanation (e.g. for one's actions), excuse, justification, defense, defence
• 熱弁 【ネツベン】 impassioned speech, fervent speech
• 強弁 【キョウベン】 insisting (unreasonably), obstinate insistence, far-fetched argument, arguing against all reason