剖 (pōu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

剖

pōu[pou1]Tone 1

to cut open, to analyze

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to cut open, to analyze

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (刂) should be narrow and vertically compact, while the right side (咅) is wider and bears the bulk of the visual weight.

1. Meaning

to cut open or split apart with a blade

to analyze or dissect logicallyto lay bare one's feelings or thoughts

VerbFormal#actions#surgery#analysis

Sample Usage

我们要剖析这个问题。
wǒ men yāo pōu xī zhè gè wèn tí.
We need to analyze this problem in depth.
医生为病人剖腹。
yī shēng wèi bìng rén pōu fù.
The doctor performed a laparotomy on the patient.

2. Sound

/[pʰoʊ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

剖

pōupou1

¯(55)

=pōu

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

pou

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "o" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound in pop

Aspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together then released with a burst of breath.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: ou rhymes with oh

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

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 stays flat and high, like a sustained musical note at the top of your speaking range.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the aspirated initial p- with the unaspirated b- sound in po vs bo.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat, level hand gesture held steady in the upper vocal register, like a high singing note.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (刂) should be narrow and vertically compact, while the right side (咅) is wider and bears the bulk of the visual weight.

4. Components

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

Semantic Clue (形旁): 刂 (indicates cutting or slicing action)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 咅 (original sound: pōu)

A sharp knife (刂) cuts through and divides the parts of (咅).

刂 vertical knife radical representing cutting
咅 phonetic element giving the sound pōu

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

16· Phonetic Root: 咅 (pǒu)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the knife radical (刂) showing an instrument of cutting and 咅 as the phonetic contributor suggesting division.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant physical slicing or butchering, which extended metaphorically to mental analysis, dissection of thoughts, and critical examination.

Frequently used in classical texts for butchering animals before expanding into abstract intellectual analysis.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ホウ (hō) / Kun: saku

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture a sharp kitchen KNIFE (刂) slicing open a big bean pod (咅) to ANALYZE its seeds one by one.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

咅

pǒupooh; pahPhonetic Core (声旁)

部

bùministry, department, section, part+ 阝 (city)

培

péito cultivate, bank up with earth, train+ 土 (earth)

赔

péicompensate, indemnify, suffer a financial loss+ 贝 (shell)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

部(bù)

部 has the right-side mound/city radical (阝), whereas 剖 has the cutting knife radical (刂).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们要深入[___]这个问题。

Clue: pōu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the right component 咅 with similar phonetic parts like 部 or 陪, leading to wrong radical combinations.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 剖 mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to cut open / analyze' (pōu) using the knife radical?

剖pōuto cut open, to analyze

Speed:

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