讲 (jiǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “to speak”. It is written from 讠 (speech radical) and 井 (well), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to speak; to explain”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
讠 + 井
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+8BB2 现代字形与笔顺数据（6 画 = 讠 2 画 + 井 4 画）；简化字 讲 以 井 替换繁体 講 的声符 冓，繁体见 说文解字·言部「講，和解也。从言冓聲」
Memory aid
Speech (讠) beside a well (井): the village well is where people gather to talk things over and explain the news.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 讲话jiǎng huàto speak; to give a talk; a speech讲 = jiǎng
- 讲课jiǎng kèto teach a class; to lecture讲 = jiǎng
- 讲述jiǎng shùto tell; to narrate; to give an account of讲 = jiǎng
- 讲座jiǎng zuòlecture; course of lectures讲 = jiǎng
Go deeper
All readings
to speak; to explain
to speak; to tell; to explain; to teach; to stress or pay attention to
说；解释、传授；也表示注重某件事。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 讲话jiǎng huàto speak; to give a talk; a speech讲 = jiǎng
- 讲课jiǎng kèto teach a class; to lecture讲 = jiǎng
- 讲述jiǎng shùto tell; to narrate; to give an account of讲 = jiǎng
- 讲座jiǎng zuòlecture; course of lectures讲 = jiǎng
Origin
The traditional form 講 is analysed in the Shuowen Jiezi as "from 言 (speech), with 冓 as the sound part". The simplified 讲 keeps the speech radical 讠 but replaces 冓 with the simpler 井 jǐng, which carries the sound instead.
Source: 说文解字·言部：講，和解也。从言冓聲
Sound component
井 family rime near
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 讲 mean?
讲 (jiǎng) means to speak; to tell; to explain; to teach; to stress or pay attention to.
How do you pronounce 讲?
It is pronounced jiǎng.
What parts is 讲 made of?
讠 (speech radical) and 井 (well), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+8BB2 现代字形与笔顺数据（6 画 = 讠 2 画 + 井 4 画）；简化字 讲 以 井 替换繁体 講 的声符 冓，繁体见 说文解字·言部「講，和解也。从言冓聲」. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 讲 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 讲?
讠. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 讲?
Common ones are 讲话 and 讲课. The reading of 讲 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.