嚼 (jiáo) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

嚼

jiáo[jiao2]Tone 2

to chew

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to chew

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:20

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical 口) is compact and occupies about one-third of the space, while the right side (juè 爵) is complex and requires precise, balanced stacking of strokes.

1. Meaning

to chew, to masticate

to ruminate, to ponder over meaningto bite

VerbNeutral#actions#body functions#eating

Sample Usage

吃东西时要细细地嚼。
chī dōngxī shí yào xìxì de jiáo.
When eating food, you should chew it carefully.
这首诗值得细细咀嚼。
zhè shǒu shī zhídé xìxì jǔjué.
This poem is worth pondering over deeply.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

嚼

jiáojiao2

´(35)

=jiáo

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

jiao

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j sound as in 'jeep' (alveolo-palatal affricate)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Front of the tongue touches the back of the lower teeth while the blade rises toward the hard palate.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -iao rhymes with 'meow' or 'ow' with an 'ee' glide

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

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 like a questioning English sentence (e.g., 'What?'), starting mid-pitch and climbing high.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the rising tone (Tone 2) with Tone 3 or Tone 4, or mixing up the reading jiáo (verb: to chew) with its literary variant jué.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from chest level and soaring upward like an airplane taking off.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 20 strokes

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (mouth, speaking, eating, or actions done with the mouth)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (indicates that the action involves the mouth)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 爵 (original sound: jué)

The mouth radical (口) on the left teams up with the phonetic component 'jué' (爵) on the right to show an action performed inside the mouth—chewing.

口 Mouth semantic indicator
爵 Phonetic and structural component providing the sound cue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 爵 (jué)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the mouth radical (口) representing eating and the ancient wine vessel character (爵) which lends its sound to form the phonetic-semantic compound.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to the physical action of chewing food with teeth, it extended metaphorically to mulling over ideas or ruminating on literature.

It has an alternative reading 'jué' used in more formal or compound words like 咀嚼 (jǔjué).

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: シャク (shaku) / Kun: かむ (kamu)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your MOUTH (口) to CHEW while holding a royal WINE GOBLET (爵) at a banquet.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

爵

juénobility, peerage, or ancient bronze wine vesselPhonetic Core (声旁)

爝

juétorch+ 火 (fire)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

觉(jué / jiào)

觉 has a roof/learning top component, whereas 嚼 has the mouth radical on the left for chewing food.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

吃东西的时候要慢慢地[___]。

Clue: jiáo

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the high stroke count (20 strokes) and crowding the right side, or confusing the colloquial reading 'jiáo' with the literary compound reading 'jué'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 嚼 mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to chew' (jiáo)?

嚼jiáoto chew

Speed:

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