slash, falling-left stroke
Kangxi radical number 4
NounFormal#writing#calligraphy#radicals
Sample Usage
“丿”是一个汉字笔画。
“Piě” shì yí gè hànzì bǐhuà.
“丿” is a Chinese character stroke.
它也是第四部首。
Tā yě shì dì sì bùshǒu.
It is also the fourth radical.
丿
piěpie3
|++ˇ(214)
=piě Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Type: Aspirated Bilabial
Sounds like: p sound as in 'pet'
Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together then released with a puff of air.
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: rhymes with 'ye' in 'yes'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yeh'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 starts mid-low, dips down, and rises sharply to a high pitch, similar to asking a surprised 'What?' in English.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, it changes to a 2nd tone.
👂Listening trap: Confusing the 3rd tone dip-rise with a flat tone; make sure the pitch clearly rises at the end.
👋Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from chest level and lifting upward into the air, matching the upward tilt of the stroke.
Topology: Single character · Strokes: 1 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: Start high, curve slightly downward and to the left with a smooth, elegant sweep, ending in a sharp tip.
Radical 丿 · Slash Radical (falling-left stroke)
A single foundational stroke representing a slant or slash.
- 丿 Single falling-left stroke
Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)
Origin: Originally depicted a knife or a sharp object slicing or slanting away, which evolved into the abstract single brush stroke.
Semantic Evolution: Transformed from a physical cutting tool representation into the fundamental name of the falling-left calligraphy stroke.
- It is counted as Kangxi Radical 4, representing the basic building blocks of Chinese characters.
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine a ski jumper sliding down a steep, curved slope from top right down to the left, shouting 'Piě!' as they fly off.
氕piēprotium 1H; light hydrogen, the most common isotope of hydrogen, having no neutron, so atomic weight 1+ 气 (air)
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
丶(zhǔ)
丶 is a dot (press down), whereas 丿 is a long slanting slash (sweep left).
乙(yǐ)
乙 has a hook at the end and a sharp turn, whereas 丿 is just a smooth single diagonal line.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge 汉字的基本笔画之一是[___]。
Clue: piě
Common Learner PitfallMistaking this directional stroke for a dot or confusing its stroke direction (it must go from top-right to bottom-left).
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What is the name and sound of the single stroke '丿'?
Production: How do you write the falling-left stroke (piě)?
丿piěradical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 4), aka 撇 Speed: Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...