声 (shēng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

声

shēng[sheng1]Tone 1

sound, voice, tone

HSK 2

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聲

Guru Deep Dive

English · sound, voice, tone

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:17

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (耳) is slightly compressed to make room for the complex right-hand phonetic component (殸), maintaining overall square proportions.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 聲 was simplified to 声 by replacing the upper-right portion with 又 and streamlining the structure into a simpler phono-semantic compound.

1. Meaning

sound or voice

tonenoisereputationclassifier for sounds

Noun / ClassifierNeutral#auditory#communication#music

Sample Usage

说话要大声一点。
shuōhuà yào dàshēng yìdiǎn.
Speak a little louder.
听到一个奇怪的声音。
tīngdào yí gè qíguài de shēngyīn.
Heard a strange sound.

2. Sound

/[ʂɤŋ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

声

shēngsheng1

¯(55)

=shēng

Initial Consonant

Type: Retroflex Fricative

Sounds like: sh sound with tongue retroflexed

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Hollow wind sound through curled tongue channel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back towards the hard palate without touching it, letting air escape with friction.

Final Rhyme

eng

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: eng rhymes with rung

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

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 is a high, flat pitch (55), exactly like singing a sustained high note on the syllable 'ah'.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'shēng' with 'shén' or 'shěng'. Ensure the final nasal is '-eng' (back nasal) rather than '-en' or '-eng' with a low dip.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A steady, high horizontal line drawn in the air, mirroring a sustained musical note on a high pitch.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 17 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (耳) is slightly compressed to make room for the complex right-hand phonetic component (殸), maintaining overall square proportions.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 聲 was simplified to 声 by replacing the upper-right portion with 又 and streamlining the structure into a simpler phono-semantic compound.

4. Components

Radical 耳 · ear radical (ear)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 耳 (Indicates that the character relates to hearing, ears, and sound.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 殸 (original sound: qiang / sheng)

The ear (耳) listens to sound, combined with the phonetic element (殸) representing percussion instruments hanging on a frame.

耳 ear (semantic clue)
又 hand / right component part in simplified form

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally a phono-semantic compound where 耳 (ear) provides the meaning of hearing/sound, and the right side provided the ancient pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from ancient references to musical stones and striking sounds to general sounds, voices, and reputations.

In ancient times, musical chimes made of stone were struck to make sound, which is reflected in the etymology of the right-hand component.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

thanh

Thanh ngang in Vietnamese corresponds to the high level Tone 1 in Mandarin.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: セイ / ショウ / Kun: こえ / ごう

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

성

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your EAR (耳) to catch every single SOUND (声) that echoes through the room.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

轻

qīnglight / gentleReplaces the ear radical with the vehicle radical (车), meaning light in weight.

经

jīngpass through / classicsUses the silk thread radical (纟), referring to warp threads in weaving.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

身(shēn)

身 means 'body', whereas 声 contains 耳 for 'ear' and sound.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请大[___]地说出来。

Clue: shēng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the simplified top-right component with similar characters like 殸 or writing too many strokes incorrectly in the complex traditional form.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 声 mean and how is it pronounced with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'sound/voice' (shēng)?

声shēngsound, voice, tone

Speed:

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