竟

jìng
adverb HSK 7-9 #4,583

Meanings

  1. 1 unexpectedly
  2. 2 actually
  3. 3 to finish

Examples

HSK 4
Tā jìngrán wàng le zìjǐ de shēngri.
He actually forgot his own birthday.
HSK 4
Nǐ jiūjìng xiǎng shuō shénme?
What exactly are you trying to say?

Tips

mistakes
Don't confuse with 竞 (jìng, compete) - 竟 has no 立 on top

Components

semantic
音 yīn
sound; tone
Top 音 - pictograph of a tongue inside a mouth with a marker line, depicting sound issuing forth. In 竟 it pictures a piece of music playing from start to finish. Indexed under Kangxi #117 立 (lì) by tradition, since 立 sits buried at the top of 音 rather than as a visibly separate component.
semantic
儿 ér
person; legs
Bottom 儿 - a stylised pair of human legs, the standing-figure component. Below 音 it pictures a musician finishing the piece, sound trailing off as the player stops. The compound: a melody played all the way to its end. From that came "to finish, in the end, ultimately" - the modern senses of 竟.

Filed under radical 立 (lì, #117) by convention. 立 is not a separate component in 竟, so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order

竟 jìng