万 (mò) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

万

mò[mo4]Tone 4

ten thousand (rare reading: mò)

HSK 2

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · ten thousand (rare reading: mò)

Cached lesson

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Topology:Single character

Strokes:3

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the horizontal stroke balanced near the top, and let the sweeping hook anchor the right side gracefully without tilting too far outward.

1. Meaning

ten thousand

a great numberan ancient surname variant used in compound names like 万俟 (Moqi)

NounLiteraryBound morpheme#numbers#surnames#quantifiers

Sample Usage

万俟
mò qí
Moqi (a compound surname)
万俟卨
mò qí xiè
Moqi Xie (historical figure name)

2. Sound

/[mɔ˥˩]/Tone: 51

万

mòmo4

`(51)

=mò

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound as in 'mother'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together lightly, air resonates through the nasal cavity.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: o rhymes with caught/law

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'aw'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops abruptly, similar to saying a firm 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with its much more common reading 'wàn' (ten thousand). Remember that 'mò' is strictly restricted to specific ancient surnames.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift karate chop downward, mirroring the sharp falling pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 3 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the horizontal stroke balanced near the top, and let the sweeping hook anchor the right side gracefully without tilting too far outward.

4. Components

Radical 一 · One Radical (horizontal line or single unit)

A horizontal stroke topping a folded line and a sweeping hook, symbolizing a scorpion or an ancient numerical tally representing a vast multitude.

一 Top horizontal line
乙 S-shaped body with a hook

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 万 (mò)

5. History

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: Originally depicted a scorpion (representing a swarm or countless numbers). Over time, the glyph stylized into its modern form and was borrowed to represent the number ten thousand.

Semantic Evolution: From 'scorpion/swarm' ➔ 'countless multitude' ➔ 'ten thousand', with a specialized literary reading 'mò' preserved in old clan names.

The pronunciation 'mò' is an archaic survival used almost exclusively in the Xianbei-derived compound surname 万俟 (Moqi).

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture a swarm of ten thousand (wàn) scorpions scuttling in the desert, but their ancient leader is named Mo (mò) because he commands them with a sharp downward command.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

万

wàn / mòten thousand / surname MoStandard reading is wàn; literary surname reading is mò.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

方(fāng)

方 has a dot-like top stroke and means square or direction, whereas 万 has a flat horizontal cap.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

复姓“[___]”是一个比较少见的中国姓氏。

Clue: mò qí

Common Learner Pitfall

Always reading 万 as 'wàn' and forgetting that in the compound surname 万俟, it takes the exceptional reading 'mò'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When seeing 万 pronounced as 'mò', what rare context does it appear in?

Production: How do you pronounce 万 when it is part of the ancient compound surname 万俟?

万mòten thousand (rare reading: mò)

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