判 (pàn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

判

pàn[pan4]Tone 4

judge / sentence / to differentiate

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · judge / sentence / to differentiate

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (半) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (刂) is slender and positioned slightly lower to balance the vertical weight.

1. Meaning

to judge, decide, or sentence in a legal or evaluative context

to differentiate or distinguish between thingsclearly different or distinct

VerbFormalBound morpheme#law#cognition#decision-making

Sample Usage

判断
pànduàn
to judge, to determine, judgment
判决
pànjué
judicial sentence, to sentence

2. Sound

/[pʰän⁵¹]/Tone: 51

判

pànpan4

`(51)

=pàn

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Both lips closed tightly, releasing a burst of air

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' or 'un' in run without the r, ending with a tongue tip against the upper teeth ridge

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

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 starts high and plunges sharply to the bottom, like a firm, definitive command or 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial p- with b-, or confusing the final -an with -ang. Make sure the vowel ends with a clear nasal -n, not a velar -ng.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, authoritative downward chop of the hand, mimicking a judge bringing down a gavel from a high level to low.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (半) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (刂) is slender and positioned slightly lower to balance the vertical weight.

4. Components

Radical 刂 · Knife Radical (knife, cutting, dividing)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 刂 (indicates cutting, splitting, or dividing (as in making a clear legal distinction or judgment))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 半 (original sound: bàn / pàn)

The character combines 半 (half) on the left with 刂 (vertical knife) on the right. To judge or differentiate is to take something and cleanly cut it in half.

半 provides the phonetic sound and hints at dividing into halves
刂 provides the semantic meaning of cutting or separating

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

11· Phonetic Root: 半 (bàn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally formed from 半 (to split, divide in two) and 刀 (knife), representing the action of cutting something into two distinct parts, which extended metaphorically to making judicial decisions and distinctions.

Semantic Evolution: From the physical action of cutting or splitting into halves to the abstract mental and legal action of separating right from wrong, judging, and sentencing.

The right-side radical 刂 is the combining form of 刀 (knife), often written on the right side of characters.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

phán

corresponds to the rising/breathy sắc or ngang tone family in Sino-Vietnamese borrowings.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ハン

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

판

Sound Shift Bridge: The initial p- in Mandarin often corresponds to p/b sounds in cognate structures across East Asian lexical borrowings.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A judge uses a knife (刂) to chop a dispute precisely in half (半), delivering a final, sharp sentence.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

伴

bàncompanionadd person radical (亻) for a human companion

胖

pàngfatadd flesh radical (月) for body fat

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

半(bàn)

半 means 'half' and lacks the knife radical (刂) on the right.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

法官对这个案件做出了公正的[___]。

Clue: pàn jué

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the vertical knife radical 刂 on the right or confusing it with the standalone character 半.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 判 mean when combined with 决 (jué) in 判决?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to judge or sentence', which combines 'half' and the 'knife' radical?

判pànjudge / sentence / to differentiate

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