喂 (wèi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

喂

wèi[wei4]Tone 4

hey / to feed

HSK 2

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · hey / to feed

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right side (wei phonetic component) spacious and balanced.

1. Meaning

hey / hello (on the phone or to attract attention)

to feed an animal, baby, or invalid

Interjection, VerbColloquial#communication#daily interaction#caregiving

Sample Usage

喂，请问你找谁？
Wèi, qǐngwèn nǐ zhǎo shuí?
Hello, may I ask who you are looking for?
该喂猫了。
Gāi wèi māo le.
It's time to feed the cat.

2. Sound

/[weɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

喂

wèiwei4

`(51)

=wèi

Initial Consonant

Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: w sound like English 'w'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded, back of tongue raised toward soft palate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'way'

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down, exactly like shouting a sharp command or an emphatic 'Hey!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with Tone 2 (wéi) when answering the phone with a questioning intonation, but standard greeting uses Tone 4 (wèi).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp chop downward with your hand, mirroring an abrupt 'Hey!' or a firm downward pitch drop.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right side (wei phonetic component) spacious and balanced.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (Mouth, speaking, shouting)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates speaking, shouting ('hey') or eating/feeding ('feed'))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 畏 (original sound: wèi)

The mouth radical (口) on the left combines with the phonetic component of fear/awe (畏) on the right to create 'wèi', capturing both shouting 'hey' from the mouth and providing nourishment.

口 Mouth (semantic clue for speaking or eating)
畏 Awe / fear (provides the sound 'wèi')

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 畏 (wèi)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined the mouth symbol (口) to represent vocal sound or eating, alongside the sound component 畏 to give the pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally used mainly for animal cries or feeding sounds, it expanded into the universal phone greeting and interjection 'hey'.

In modern times, 喂 has become ubiquitous as the standard telephone greeting across the Chinese-speaking world.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You open your MOUTH (口) wide to SHOUT 'HEY!' (wèi) across the yard, and toss food to FEED the dog at the same time.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

畏

wèifear, aweWithout the mouth radical, it is the base character for fear (畏).

喂

wèihey / to feedAdds the mouth radical (口) for calling out or feeding.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

位(wèi)

Uses the person radical (亻) instead of the mouth radical (口), meaning 'position' or polite counter for people.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

[___]，请问张经理在吗？

Clue: wèi

Common Learner Pitfall

Using Tone 2 (wéi) when answering the phone with a rising question tone instead of the firm Tone 4 (wèi).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 喂 on a phone or describing a farm chore, what are its two main meanings?

Production: How do you write the character for shouting 'hey' or 'to feed', and what is its Pinyin with tone?

喂wèihey / to feed

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0