圣 (kū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

圣

kū[ku1]Tone 1

dig

HSK 6

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · dig

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Full enclosure

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the outer framing wrapper is balanced and wide enough to house the internal components comfortably without looking cramped.

1. Meaning

to dig with persistent effort

to scoop outto unearth or gather wild plants

VerbLiteraryBound morpheme#action#agriculture#effort

Sample Usage

匊
kū
Note: standard CC-CEDICT mapping for kū corresponds to historical digging terms.

2. Sound

/[kʰu˥]/Tone: 55

圣

kūku1

¯(55)

=kū

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Velar

Sounds like: k sound like in 'kite'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong gust of air from throat! Tissue held in front MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue raised against the soft palate (velum)

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot'

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: Maintains a constant high pitch, similar to a high-pitched musical drone or the 'ee' in 'see' sustained flatly.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the unvoiced aspirated 'k' initial with the unaspirated 'g' sound.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine a high, flat musical note sung steadily at the very top of your vocal range, accompanied by a flat horizontal hand gesture.

3. Writing

Topology: Full enclosure · Strokes: 5 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the outer framing wrapper is balanced and wide enough to house the internal components comfortably without looking cramped.

4. Components

Radical 凵 · Open Box Radical (container or open receptacle)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 凵 (indicates a hole, pit, or container being dug out)

A container structure enclosing elements representing persistent excavation work.

凵 Open box or pit

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 圣 (kū)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted manual excavation or digging into the earth to extract roots or soil.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from literal physical digging to literary contexts involving deep search and persistent effort.

Frequently found in classical texts describing foraging or deep agricultural labor.

6. Sinosphere

Sound Shift Bridge: Represents a specialized literary root in classical Sinitic vocabulary.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine digging into a deep container (凵) with persistent effort, hollowing it out while making a 'coo' sound.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他每天在山里[___]野菜。

Clue: kū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the high level tone (Tone 1) with dipping or falling tones when reading literary vocabulary.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What is the primary literary meaning of kū?

Production: How do you write the literary character for digging with persistent effort (kū)?

圣kūdig

Speed:

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