叶 (xié) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

叶

xié[xie2]Tone 2

to be in harmony

HSK 4

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to be in harmony

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (口) compact and slightly higher, while the right side extends downward to balance the overall width.

Simplification Logic: This is the simplified and traditional form for this specific classical reading (xié), though it shares the glyph with the much more common character for 'leaf' (yè).

1. Meaning

to be in harmony, to cooperate

to uniteto rhyme (in classical poetry)

VerbLiteraryBound morpheme#relations#harmony#literary

Sample Usage

协力
xiélì
to cooperate, to pull together
叶韵
xiéyùn
to rhyme (literary usage of 叶)

2. Sound

/[ɕi̯e³⁵]/Tone: 35

叶

xiéxie2

´(35)

=xié

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolo-Palatal Fricative

Sounds like: sh- sound made with tongue flat near the roof of the mouth

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: The tip of the tongue rests behind the lower front teeth while the middle of the tongue rises close to the hard palate, creating a friction sound.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'ye' in 'yes'

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

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises sharply just like a questioning English sentence: 'What?' or 'Really?'

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with the fourth tone 'xiè' or the common noun 'yè' (leaf), which is historically related in writing.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from chest level and sweeping upward to the sky, matching the upward pitch of Tone 2.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 5 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (口) compact and slightly higher, while the right side extends downward to balance the overall width.

Simplification Logic: This is the simplified and traditional form for this specific classical reading (xié), though it shares the glyph with the much more common character for 'leaf' (yè).

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (mouth, speaking, union of voices)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates speaking, communicating, or voices coming together in harmony.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 十 (original sound: shí / xié phonetic series)

Many voices coming together through the mouth (口) to agree completely, making ten out of ten (十) points in harmony.

口 Mouth / speech
十 Complete / ten

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined elements indicating sounds matching or voices blending together in concert.

Semantic Evolution: Over time, it became restricted mainly to literary compounds meaning harmony or cooperation, while its homophone/variant took over the meaning of 'leaf'.

In classical Chinese poetry, this character was frequently used to indicate a forced or traditional rhyme adjustment ('xieyun').

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

hiệp

Corresponds to entering tone / checked tone categories in Sino-Vietnamese.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: キョウ / Kun: かなう

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

협

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Ten (十) people opening their mouths (口) in total harmony (xié) to sing a song together.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

协

xiéto cooperateSimplified version using the exact same phonetic and radical structure.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

叶(yè)

When pronounced yè, it means 'leaf' (as in tree leaf). When pronounced xié, it means harmony.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们要齐心[___]力，把工作做好。

Clue: xié

Common Learner Pitfall

Mistaking this literary reading xié for the extremely common noun yè (leaf), which uses the exact same character glyph.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When seeing 叶 used in the classical sense of harmony, what is its reading and meaning?

Production: How do you write the character representing harmony and cooperation with the pronunciation xié?

叶xiéto be in harmony

Speed:

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