讲讲 (jiǎng jiǎng) — to talk a bit, to tell (briefly), to explain (c…

Definition

讲讲 is the casual, shortened form of 讲 — same meaning, lighter and more conversational feel. It's a verb complement (verb–verb reduplication) often used to suggest a brief chat or explanation.

verb

to talk a bitto tell (briefly)to explain (casually)

Examples

讲讲？
Nǐ néng gěi wǒ jiǎng jiǎng zhè ge gù shi ma?
Can you tell me this story?
，讲讲。
Lǎo shī, qǐng nín gěi wǒ men jiǎng jiǎng zhè piān kè wén.
Teacher, please explain this text to us briefly.
，讲讲。
Yǒu kòng de shí hou, tā xǐ huan gěi wǒ jiǎng jiǎng xiào hua.
When he has free time, he likes to tell me jokes.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

讲jiǎngtalk

讲 talk said twice suggests a brief casual telling.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 講; 讲 is its simplified writing.

言冓講

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánsay

Sound part声符shēngfú

冓

冓gòu講jiǎng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 講 puts 言, say, beside 冓, which gave it its sound; the simplified 讲 is a later abbreviation.

Open 讲 →