冷 (lěng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

冷

lěng[leng3]Tone 3

cold

HSK 1

Guru Deep Dive

English · cold

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The two ice dots on the left must be compact and balanced vertically, while the right component should be stable and slightly taller to anchor the character.

1. Meaning

cold

chillysurname Leng

AdjectiveNeutral#weather#temperature#sensations

Sample Usage

今天天气很冷。
jīn tiān tiān qì hěn lěng.
Today the weather is very cold.
多穿点衣服，外面冷。
duō chuān diǎn yī fu, wài miàn lěng.
Wear more clothes, it's cold outside.

2. Sound

/[ləŋ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

冷

lěngleng3

ˇ(214)

=lěng

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolar Lateral

Sounds like: l sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip taps against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

eng

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -eng rhymes with -ung in rung

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

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

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises, similar to saying 'What?' in English when asking for repetition in disbelief.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, it shifts to a 2nd tone (rising 35).

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse it with 'lèng' (non-existent tone 4) or mishear the dipping 3rd tone as a flat tone when spoken quickly.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down sharply from your neutral speaking pitch and sweep upward to finish high.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The two ice dots on the left must be compact and balanced vertically, while the right component should be stable and slightly taller to anchor the character.

4. Components

Radical 冫 · Ice Radical (ice, cold, freezing)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 冫 (Indicates ice and low temperature)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 令 (original sound: ling)

The ice radical (冫) on the left pairs with the command/order element (令) on the right, signifying an environment so freezing that even commands turn to ice.

冫 Ice / cold
令 Phonetic / command

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

29· Phonetic Root: 令 (líng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the ice radical (冫) to represent low temperatures with (令) providing the phonetic reading.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from the physical sensation of ice and cold weather to metaphorically describe cold attitudes, aloofness, and also used as a surname.

The ice radical (冫) originally had two strokes representing crystal ice formations.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: レイ / Kun: つめ.たい

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

냉

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You are standing outside in the freezing ice (冫) while receiving a royal command (令) to stay completely still until you turn cold.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

零

língzero / falling dropRain top (雨) over command (令) means zero or falling rain/snow drops.

领

lǐngcollar / leadCloth radical (衤) over command (令) means neck collar.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

零(líng)

零 has the rain top (雨), whereas 冷 has the ice radical (冫).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

今天外面很[___]，请多穿一件衣服。

Clue: lěng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left ice radical (冫) with the water radical (氵), or forgetting the dipping contour of Tone 3 and making it flat.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 冷 mean and how is it pronounced with tones?

Production: How do you write the character for 'cold' (lěng) using the ice radical?

冷lěngcold

Speed:

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