呼 (hū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

呼

hū[hu1]Tone 1

to exhale / to call

HSK 4

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to exhale / to call

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the mouth radical on the left compact and positioned higher up, leaving the right component (乎) ample room to extend downwards and slightly to the right.

1. Meaning

to exhale, to breathe out

to call outto shoutto cry

VerbNeutral#breathing#voice#actions

Sample Usage

深吸一口气，然后慢慢呼出来。
shēn xī yī kǒu qì, ránhòu mànman hū chūlái.
Take a deep breath, and then slowly exhale.
他在远处大声呼喊着我的名字。
tā zài yuǎnchù dàshēng hūhǎnzhe wǒ de míngzi.
He was shouting my name loudly in the distance.

2. Sound

/[xu⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

呼

hūhu1

¯(55)

=hū

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound as in 'hat'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: The tongue is relaxed at the bottom of the mouth while friction is produced at the glottis.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot' or 'moon'

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

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 high and even, like singing a sustained high note without any inflection.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the breathy, open sound of 'hū' with a retroflex or dental affricate like 'fū' or 'zū'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and steady at a high level in front of your face, matching the high flat pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the mouth radical on the left compact and positioned higher up, leaving the right component (乎) ample room to extend downwards and slightly to the right.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (mouth, speech, opening)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates actions performed with the mouth, such as breathing, calling, or shouting.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 乎 (original sound: hū)

A mouth (口) paired with the phonetic sound '乎' (hū) creates a character representing the act of using the mouth to send breath or sound outward.

口 Mouth semantic clue
乎 Phonetic sound clue providing 'hū'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 乎 (hū)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the mouth radical (口) representing breath and speech, and 乎 (hū) which originally depicted an ancient wind instrument or exhalation of air.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to exhaling breath or making a sigh, which naturally expanded to mean shouting, calling out, and crying.

In classical texts, 呼 frequently appeared in compound words meaning 'to summon' or 'to address'.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

hô

Mandarin Tone 1 corresponds to ngang (high level) tone in Sino-Vietnamese.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: コ (ko) / Kun: よ.ぶ (yo.bu)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

호

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine standing on a cold winter mountain peak, using your **mouth** (口) to **exhale** a huge cloud of warm steam while shouting 'Hū!' into the valley.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

呼

hūto exhale, to callBase character with mouth radical.

糊

húpaste, muddledAdds the rice radical (米) to mean sticky paste or being muddled.

蝴蝶

húdiébutterflyUses insect radical (虫) for butterfly.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

乎(hū)

乎 lacks the mouth radical (口) on the left and is typically used as a classical particle or grammar suffix.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

运动后我们要深吸一口气，然后缓缓把气[___]出来。

Clue: hū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing '呼' (to exhale/call) with similar sounding syllables or forgetting that it requires the mouth radical (口).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character '呼' mean and how is it pronounced with tones?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to exhale / to call' using the mouth radical?

呼hūto exhale / to call

Speed:

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