Speech Radical (讠) — Characters, Meaning and Practice Worksheet
讠 is the speech radical. It appears in 56 of the most common Chinese characters — these 12 are the ones worth learning first, and the worksheet below gives every one of them a pinyin header, a stroke-by-stroke model and blank Tianzige grids to copy into.
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What does 讠 mean?
Speech radical · 言 yán · 7 strokes · speech, words
As a radical it is called 言字旁 (yán zì páng).
It usually appears on the left (讠), or at the bottom (言). The Origin column below shows what each character's parts do — many take their meaning from the radical, some take their sound from the other half.
言 itself: A tongue sticking out of a mouth 口
12 common characters with 讠
Ranked by how often they appear in real written Chinese. Every character links to its own page with a stroke-order animation and example words.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 说 | shuō | say, speak, tell | 兑 supplies the sound |
| 话 | huà | word, talk, utterance | A spoken 讠 tongue 舌; 舌 also provides the pronunciation |
| 认 | rèn | recognise; admit; resign oneself to | 人 supplies the sound |
| 信 | xìn | letter, mail | |
| 记 | jì | keep in mind, memorise, remember; take note, write down | A private 己 note 讠; 己 also provides the pronunciation |
| 让 | ràng | give way; let, make; allow | 上 supplies the sound |
| 该 | gāi | this, that, the mentioned | 亥 supplies the sound |
| 论 | lùn | discuss, talk about, expound; decide on | Speech 讠 that explains the logic 仑; 仑 also provides the pronunciation |
| 谈 | tán | talk | 炎 supplies the sound |
| 识 | shí | know | 只 supplies the sound |
| 讲 | jiǎng | speak, tell | 井 supplies the sound |
| 许 | xǔ | allow | 午 supplies the sound |
Related Radicals
- 艹Grass radical · cǎo39 common characters · grass; plants
- 虫Insect radical · chóng9 common characters · insect, reptile
- 衤Clothes radical · yī20 common characters · clothes
- 贝Shell radical · bèi36 common characters · shell; (ancient) money
- 走Walk radical · zǒu10 common characters · to walk, to run
- 足Foot radical · zú18 common characters · foot
Create Your Own Chinese Worksheet
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