凍 (dòng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

凍

dòng[dong4]Tone 4

to freeze

HSK 5

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冻

Guru Deep Dive

English · to freeze

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (two-dot water) occupies about one-third of the horizontal width, leaving the right component (重) to occupy the remaining two-thirds with a stable, stacked structure.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 凍 uses the standard four-stroke water radical 冫 (representing ice), which remains identical in the simplified form 冻.

1. Meaning

to freeze, to congeal, to feel very cold

aspicmeat jelly

Verb / AdjectiveNeutral#weather#temperature#food

Sample Usage

外面太冷了，小心把手冻僵。
wàimiàn tài lěng le, xiǎoxīn bǎ shǒu dòng jiāng.
It is too cold outside, be careful not to freeze your hands stiff.
把这块肉放进冰箱冷冻。
bǎ zhè kuài ròu fàng jìn bīngxiāng lěngdòng.
Put this piece of meat into the refrigerator to freeze.

2. Sound

/[tʊŋ˥˩]/Tone: 51

凍

dòngdong4

`(51)

=dòng

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound as in 'dog'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge or back of upper teeth, releasing cleanly without an outgoing puff of air.

Final Rhyme

ong

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -ong rhymes with rung

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'h-' (h) with final '-ong' (oong).

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 is a sharp drop in pitch from high to low, identical to an abrupt command or emphatic English syllable like 'STOP!'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the vowel rhyme '-ong' with '-eng' or mistaking Tone 4 for Tone 1 or Tone 3 due to hasty pronunciation.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply downward like an emphatic nod or shouting 'No!'. Make a downward chopping hand motion matching the steep pitch drop from 5 to 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 凍 uses the standard four-stroke water radical 冫 (representing ice), which remains identical in the simplified form 冻.

4. Components

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

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

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 重 (original sound: zhòng / dòng)

Ice (冫) combines with heavy/weight (重) to form 'freeze' (冻), depicting heavy water immobilized and solidified by deep cold.

冫 Ice / cold semantic indicator
重 Heavy phonetic / conceptual clue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

5· Phonetic Root: 東 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Formed as a phono-semantic compound where the ice radical (冫) denotes the frozen state, and 重 (zhòng, heavy) provides the approximate sound while suggesting the dense, heavy nature of frozen solids.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred strictly to water turning into ice. Over time, it broadened to include feeling extremely cold, refrigeration, and congealed gelatinous foods (aspic).

The two-dot ice radical (冫) is specifically associated with cold weather and frozen states, unlike the three-dot water radical (氵) which represents liquid water.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: トウ / Kun: こお.る, こ凍.える

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

동

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture heavy (重) blocks of ice (冫) piled up in a giant freezer, making everything completely FROZEN (冻) solid.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

重

zhòngheavyWithout ice radical; means heavy.

动

dòngto moveUses power/strength radical (力) instead of ice (冫).

种

zhǒngseed / typeUses grain radical (禾) instead of ice (冫).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

动(dòng)

动 uses the strength radical 力 (muscle/movement), whereas 冻 uses the ice radical 冫 (cold/freezing).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

冬天天氣太冷，河裡的水都[___]了。

Clue: dòng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 冻 (dòng - to freeze) with 动 (dòng - to move) because they share the exact same pronunciation and tone.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 冻 mean and what is its pronunciation?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to freeze' using the ice radical and the component for 'heavy'?

凍dòngto freeze

Speed:

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