剷 (chǎn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

剷

chǎn[chan3]Tone 3

shovel, to scrape, to level

HSK 7

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铲

Guru Deep Dive

English · shovel, to scrape, to level

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left metal radical (钅) should be narrower and slightly compressed, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (产) to extend comfortably.

Simplification Logic: The traditional character 剷 uses 鏟 with the complex form of metal (金), which was simplified to the standard left-side radical (钅).

1. Meaning

to shovel, to scrape

to eliminateto weed out

VerbNeutral#tools#actions#gardening#construction

Sample Usage

用铲子铲雪
yòng chǎn zi chǎn xuě
to shovel snow with a shovel
把地上的杂草铲除
bǎ dì shàng de zá cǎo chǎn chú
to clear away the weeds on the ground

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰän²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

剷

chǎnchan3

ˇ(214)

=chǎn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

chan

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: retroflex 'ch' sound similar to 'tr' in tree

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back slightly toward the hard palate, releasing a strong burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'run' minus the r, or 'on' with a flat open a

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

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 down like a disappointed downward sigh before rising back up in pitch.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, chǎn shifts to a 2nd tone (chán).

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial ch with the dental affricate c (chǎn vs cǎn).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: start medium, dip down low to your chest, and sweep back up to the right.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left metal radical (钅) should be narrower and slightly compressed, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (产) to extend comfortably.

Simplification Logic: The traditional character 剷 uses 鏟 with the complex form of metal (金), which was simplified to the standard left-side radical (钅).

4. Components

Radical 钅 · metal radical (metal, tool, weapon)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 钅 (indicates that the tool is made of metal (a metal shovel))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 产 (original sound: chǎn)

A metal tool (钅) used to produce (产) or clear the ground by scraping.

钅 metal radical (left)
产 phonetic and semantic clue for birth/production/creation (right)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 産

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the metal radical (钅) denoting a metal tool and 产 (chǎn) providing the phonetic reading and a sense of bringing forth or producing a clean surface.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to a sharp metal digging or scraping implement, evolving into verbs for shoveling, scraping, and weeding out.

Ancient shovels were forged from bronze or iron, hence the metal radical is essential to its root meaning.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take a METAL tool (钅) to produce (产) a clean path by SHOVELING away all the dirt.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

産

Phonetic Core (声旁)

滻

+ 氵 (water)

鏟

+ 釒 (metal)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

产(chǎn)

产 means to produce or give birth; 铲 adds the metal radical (钅) to make it a physical shovel or scraping tool.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

園丁用[___]子把 garden 裡的雜草清理乾淨。

Clue: chǎn

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting to write the metal radical (钅) on the left and accidentally writing 产 instead.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the metal radical combined with 产 mean?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to shovel' or 'shovel' (chǎn)?

剷chǎnshovel, to scrape, to level

Speed:

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