堆 (duī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

堆

duī[dui1]Tone 1

pile up, heap, stack

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · pile up, heap, stack

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (土) is narrower and occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (隹) wider and slightly taller to maintain visual equilibrium.

1. Meaning

pile up or heap up

a pile, heap, or stack of objectsa large amount or quantity

Verb and NounNeutral#action#quantity#arrangement

Sample Usage

把书堆在桌子上。
bǎ shū duī zài zhuōzi shàng.
Pile the books on the desk.
屋子里有一堆垃圾。
wūzi lǐ yǒu yī duī lājī.
There is a pile of garbage in the room.

2. Sound

/[tweɪ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

堆

duīdui1

¯(55)

=duī

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound in English 'do'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed lightly against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -way rhymes with day/say

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, comparable to maintaining a single high note when humming.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'duī' with 'tuī' (tuī - to push). 'D' is unaspirated while 't' is strongly aspirated.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine holding a flat, high pitch at the top of your vocal range, like singing a single sustained high note in a choir.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (土) is narrower and occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (隹) wider and slightly taller to maintain visual equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 土 · Earth Radical (Earth, ground, soil)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 土 (Indicates earth or material gathered on the ground)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 隹 (original sound: zhuī)

Earth (土) meets a short-tailed bird (隹) that gathers twigs to build a nest, symbolizing piling things up.

土 Earth or ground
隹 Short-tailed bird / phonetic clue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

27· Phonetic Root: 隹 (zhuī)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the earth radical (土) representing soil/ground and 隹 (short-tailed bird), originally capturing the idea of gathering or heaping earth or materials.

Semantic Evolution: Expanded from heaping up earth to mean piling up any objects or forming a stack or quantity.

The character pairs a tactile material base (earth) with a phonetic element that originally depicted a bird.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: タイ / Kun: うずたかく

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You dump a pile of **earth (土)** on the ground, and a flock of **birds (隹)** gathers around the stack to inspect it.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

推

tuīto pushReplaces the earth radical with hand radical (扌), meaning pushing with your hand.

准

zhǔnaccurate, allowUses the two-dot ice radical (冫) on the left instead of earth.

锥

zhuīawl, coneUses the metal radical (钅) on the left for a metal tool.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

推(tuī)

推 has the hand radical (扌) for pushing; 堆 has the earth radical (土) for piling dirt.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

地上[___]了很多 Fallen leaves。

Clue: duī

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical with 扌 (hand) because piling actions involve hands, forgetting that it uses 土 (earth) because piles resemble mounds of earth.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 堆, what does it mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to pile up or heap' with pinyin duī?

堆duīpile up, heap, stack

Speed:

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