Writing Balance Rule: The left side (person radical) should be narrower and slightly elevated, while the right side (亭) is wider and bears the structural weight.
1. Meaning
to stop, to halt, to park
to pauseto stay temporarilyto cease
VerbNeutral#movement#transportation#actions
Sample Usage
请在这里停车。
Qǐng zài zhè lǐ tíng chē.
Please park the car here.
雨停了。
Yǔ tíng le.
The rain has stopped.
2. Sound
/[tʰɪŋ³⁵]/Tone: 35
停
tíngting2
|
++
´(35)
=tíng
Initial Consonant
t
Type: Aspirated Alveolar
Sounds like: t sound as in 'top'
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing a burst of air.
Final Rhyme
ing
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: -ing rhymes with 'sing'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'eeng'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T2 (35)
3 → 5 (35)
2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises like a surprised English 'What?' or 'Really?'.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, changes to a rising 2nd tone.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (tíng) with Tone 4 (tìng), which falls sharply.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from a neutral level and sweeping up to the ceiling, matching the question-like upward inflection in English.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (person radical) should be narrower and slightly elevated, while the right side (亭) is wider and bears the structural weight.
4. Components
Radical亻 · Person Radical (human, person)
Semantic Clue (形旁):亻 (indicates human action or posture)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):亭 (original sound: tíng)
A person (亻) pauses at a pavilion (亭) to take a rest.
亻 person
亭 pavilion / phonetic clue for ting
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
4· Phonetic Root: 亭 (tíng)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Combined from the person radical (亻) indicating human activity and the phonetic component 亭 (pavilion), originally denoting a traveler stopping at a post station or pavilion.
Semantic Evolution: Shifted from stopping at a specific structure (pavilion) to any general action of halting, stopping, or parking.
The component 亭 originally represented a high-roofed pavilion used for resting along ancient roads.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
đình
Mandarin rising tone corresponds to Vietnamese hỏi or huyền depending on historical derivations, but here mapped to standard Sino-Vietnamese reading.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: テイ / Kun: と.まる, と.める
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
정
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A PERSON (亻) reaches a PAVILION (亭) along the highway and decides to STOP and park their vehicle for a break.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
婷
tínggracefulAdd the female radical (女) to denote a graceful woman.
停
tíngto stopUses the person radical (亻).
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
亭(tíng)
亭 lacks the person radical (亻) on the left and refers strictly to a pavilion structure.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我们的车在路边[___]了下来。
Clue: tíng
Common Learner Pitfall
Forgetting to write the person radical (亻) on the left and just writing the right component 亭.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 停 mean and how is it pronounced?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to park' (tíng)?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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停tíngto stop
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