Writing Balance Rule: The left side (亻) should be slender and compact, while the right side (寽 or brush/hand elements) must be balanced to prevent the character from leaning.
1. Meaning
to invade or encroach upon territory or rights
to infringe uponto approach or draw near gradually
VerbFormal#military#politics#actions
Sample Usage
敌人侵略了我们的边境。
Dírén qīnlüè le wǒmen de biānjìng.
The enemy invaded our border.
请不要侵犯我的隐私。
Qǐng bùyào qīnfàn wǒ de yǐnsī.
Please do not infringe upon my privacy.
2. Sound
/[t͡ɕʰin⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
侵
qīnqin1
|
++
¯(55)
=qīn
Initial Consonant
q
Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: ch sound produced with the tongue flat against the lower teeth and blade near the roof of the mouth
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Extremely strong burst of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST fly.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue close to the hard palate, forcefully releasing a puff of air.
Final Rhyme
in
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: -in rhymes with 'een' in seen
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'een'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T1 (55)
5 → 5 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 matches a high, sustained musical note or singing pitch without any rise or fall, like saying 'Aaaah' at the doctor's office.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the aspirated palatal 'q' with the retroflex 'zh' or dental 'c'. Remember 'q' is a sharp, breathy sound right behind the teeth.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and steady at eye level, making a high, unwavering horizontal sweep representing the high level 55 tone.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (亻) should be slender and compact, while the right side (寽 or brush/hand elements) must be balanced to prevent the character from leaning.
4. Components
Radical亻 · Person radical (Human or person)
Semantic Clue (形旁):亻 (Indicates human involvement or action by people.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):巛 (original sound: qin)
A person (亻) steps forward with a claw/hand element (寽) to grab or encroach upon something that doesn't belong to them.
亻 Person
寽 To pluck or take with the hand
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined a hand taking something away (寽) and a human element (亻), depicting people reaching out to seize or encroach upon territory.
Semantic Evolution: From the physical act of grabbing or taking by force, it evolved into the modern sense of invasion, encroachment, and infringement.
Frequently used in historical contexts referring to border incursions and military invasions.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
xâm
Corresponds to the modern Mandarin first tone, maintaining a smooth, high register.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: シン (shin) / Kun: 侵.す (侵す - okasu)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
침
Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'q' in modern Mandarin often corresponds to historical dental/palatal stops that shifted across East Asian borrowings into 'sh' or 'ch'.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A person (亻) sneaks in with a claw-like hand to grab territory, committing an invasion (qīn).
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
浸
jìnto soak, to immerseReplaces the person radical with water (氵) to mean soaking instead of invading.
骎
qīnswift horseReplaces the person radical with horse (馬) to represent galloping horses.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
浸(jìn)
浸 has water (氵) for liquid immersion; 侵 has a person (亻) for human invasion.
授(shòu)
授 ends with a hand/giving component (又) meaning to confer or teach, whereas 侵 involves seizing.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
外敌入侵时，全国人民团结一致 [___] 家园。
Clue: qīn
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the pinyin 'qīn' with 'qīng' (green/clear) due to a missing nasal ending or mishearing the final.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does the character 侵 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to invade' (qīn) using a person radical?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
Search theme
Accent preference
Results are live YouTube search — accents and levels aren't verified.
侵qīnto invade
Speed:
Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...