Writing Balance Rule: The top angled stroke leans inward, and the bottom hook or sweep curves smoothly to the right, resembling a bent elbow or private corner.
1. Meaning
old variant of mǒu (some, certain, such and such)
privateselfish (ancient glyph origin meaning)
Character ComponentLiteraryBound morpheme#linguistics#variants
Sample Usage
厶部
sī bù
the '厶' radical (Kangxi radical 28)
某人
mǒu rén
someone, a certain person (using its modern standard form 某)
2. Sound
/[moʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
厶
mǒumou3
|
++
ˇ(214)
=mǒu
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
mou
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
m
Type: Bilabial Nasal
Sounds like: m sound like in 'mouse'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together gently to release air through the nose.
Final Rhyme
ou
Vowel Group: -o vowel group
Sounds like: ou rhymes with 'so' or 'dough'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oh'.
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 low like a skeptical English 'Oh?' before coming back up.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35).
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse with the first tone (mōu) or fourth tone (mòu). Make sure the pitch drops low before rising slightly at the end.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a downward dip and up in the air with your finger, mirroring a checkmark shape 📉.
3. Writing
Topology: Single character · Strokes: 2 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The top angled stroke leans inward, and the bottom hook or sweep curves smoothly to the right, resembling a bent elbow or private corner.
A single flowing two-stroke stroke shape representing a secluded or folded corner.
厶 Private / elbow shape
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
2· Phonetic Root: 厶 (mǒu)
5. History
Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)
Origin: Originally a pictogram depicting a bent arm or a private elbow keeping things hidden away to oneself, which later came to mean 'private' (contrasted with 公 public).
Semantic Evolution: Over time, it was co-opted as a phonetic component and a graphic root (Kangxi radical 28), and historically used as a variant for characters like 某 (mǒu).
In ancient seal script, 厶 was the original character for 'private' (sī), which later evolved into 私 by adding the grain/phonetic element 禾.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
tư / mỗ
Matches literary Sino-Vietnamese readings used in compound words.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: シ (shi) / ボウ (bō) / Kun: わたくし (watakushi)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
사 / 모
Sound Shift Bridge: The nasal initial 'm-' remains stable across historical linguistic layers for the variant reading 'mǒu'.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Think of 厶 as a bent elbow guarding a secret private zone. When you say 'mǒu', imagine someone pointing mysteriously saying 'A certain (mǒu) person is hiding behind that corner!'
公 (public) has an inverted top 八 over a 厶, whereas 厶 alone is just the private corner.
ム(various)
The katakana character 'mu' looks identical in print, but 厶 is a Chinese radical with specific stroke order rules.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
这个字是某的[___]体。 (Zhè gè zì shì mǒu de [___] tǐ.)
Clue: mǒu
Common Learner Pitfall
Mistaking this radical glyph solely for the Japanese katakana 'mu' (ム) rather than recognizing its role as a Chinese Kangxi radical meaning private or serving as a phonetic/variant component.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What is the primary function and old variant meaning of the standalone component 厶?
Production: How do you write the 2-stroke radical '厶' (private/old variant of mǒu) from memory?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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厶mǒuold variant of 某
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