勳 (xūn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

勳

xūn[xun1]Tone 1

meritorious accomplishment

HSK 7

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勋

Guru Deep Dive

English · meritorious accomplishment

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component narrower and more compact, while the right component provides balanced weight with horizontal strokes.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 勳 uses 員 on the right and 力 on the bottom, while the simplified form 勋 replaces 员 with 员's simplified element and structures it efficiently.

1. Meaning

meritorious service or accomplishment

meritmedal or badge of honor

noun / bound formFormalBound morpheme#awards#achievement#history

Sample Usage

立勋
lì xūn
to render distinguished service
功勋
gōng xūn
historical feats or meritorious service

2. Sound

/[ɕyn⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

勳

xūnxun1

¯(55)

=xūn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

xun

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolo-Palatal Fricative

Sounds like: sh sound pronounced with the tongue blade near the hard palate

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Hissing friction with lips stretched wide in a smile.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue blade raised close to the hard palate, air hissed gently through a narrow gap.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -v vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with French 'une' or German 'ü'

Note: Written as 'un', pronounced as rounded 'ün' [y].

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

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 is a high, steady pitch sustained without rising or falling, similar to singing a single high note.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial 'sh' with the palatal 'x', or mishearing the 'ü' vowel as an ordinary English 'oo'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat horizontal line in mid-air, matching a steady, unwavering high note.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component narrower and more compact, while the right component provides balanced weight with horizontal strokes.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 勳 uses 員 on the right and 力 on the bottom, while the simplified form 勋 replaces 员 with 员's simplified element and structures it efficiently.

4. Components

Radical 力 · Power Radical (strength, power, force)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 力 (indicates that the accomplishment requires effort, strength, or hard work)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 员 (original sound: xun)

A person (员) exerting physical power and effort (力) to achieve a great meritorious deed.

员 phonetic and structural component
力 semantic indicator of effort or strength

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 熏 (xūn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined elements indicating personnel or members contributing effort to the state, later specialized to mean meritorious service and awards.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from general hard work and contribution by individuals to specific official honors, medals (such as 勋章), and historical achievements.

Frequently used in imperial and modern military contexts to honor distinguished officers.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

huân

Mandarin Tone 1 corresponds roughly to ngang tone in Sino-Vietnamese.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: クン

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

훈

Sound Shift Bridge: Shared East Asian literary root 'hun/kun' relating to merit or훈/勲.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A prominent team member (员) who exerted all their strength and power (力) earned a shiny golden medal of honor for their meritorious service (勋).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

熏

xūnvariant of 熏[xun1]Phonetic Core (声旁)

曛

xūntwilight; sunset+ 日 (sun)

獯

xūnused in 獯鬻[Xun1 yu4]+ 犭 (dog)

薰

xūnsweet-smelling grass; Coumarouna odorata+ 艹 (plants)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

员(yuán)

员 means member and lacks the power radical (力) on the right side.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他在衛國戰爭中屢立戰[___]，被授予最高榮譽。

Clue: xūn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the simplified character 勋 with other characters containing 员 due to visual similarity, or mispronouncing the 'ün' vowel as 'un'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 勋 mean when seen in compound words like 功勋 or 勋章?

Production: How do you write the character for 'meritorious accomplishment' (xūn) using the power radical?

勳xūnmeritorious accomplishment

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