讲话
jiǎnghuà · HSK 2
address
💬 讲 = speak + 话 = words/speech; together: to speak words = give a talk
讲 has 讠(speech radical) + 井(well), once meaning to explain or lecture. 话 also carries 讠 plus 舌(tongue), so it literally fuses speech and tongue. Stacking two speech-radical characters doubles down on the talking sense.
讲 — speech radical 讠 + 井 (well)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (simplified form of 言, 'speech') gives the meaning, indicating something spoken or explained. The right side 冓 (simplified to 井-like form) originally suggested interlocking structure and provided the sound. Together it means to speak, explain, or tell.
话 — speech radical 讠 (言) + tongue 舌
话 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (simplified from 言, 'speech') gives the meaning, signaling something said, while 舌 ('tongue') hints at the sound and reinforces the speaking sense. The traditional form 話 makes the 言 element explicit; today 话 means 'speech, talk, words.'