姑 (gū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

姑

gū[gu1]Tone 1

paternal aunt

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · paternal aunt

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (女) must be compressed slightly to make room for the right phonetic component (古), ensuring the character stays within a balanced square grid.

1. Meaning

paternal aunt (father's sister)

husband's sisterhusband's mother (archaic)Buddhist nunfor the time being (literary)

NounNeutral#family#kinship#society

Sample Usage

我有一个姑姑住在北京。
wǒ yǒu yī gè gūgu zhù zài běijīng.
I have an aunt living in Beijing.
大姑，您最近身体好吗？
dà gū, nín zuìjìn shēntǐ hǎo ma?
Auntie, how is your health recently?

2. Sound

/[ku⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

姑

gūgu1

¯(55)

=gū

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Velar

Sounds like: g sound as in 'go'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air (sounds like 'c' in Vietnamese 'cá' or 'k' in English 'skate').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue touches the soft palate, with no burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: -oo rhyme as in 'too'

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: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch comparable to humming a high note when surprised.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 1 (high level gū) with Tone 4 (sharp falling gù), which sounds like an abrupt command.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine a high, flat drone note played on a violin, holding a steady high line in the air with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (女) must be compressed slightly to make room for the right phonetic component (古), ensuring the character stays within a balanced square grid.

4. Components

Radical 女 · Woman Radical (female, woman)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 女 (Indicates female family member (paternal aunt))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 古 (original sound: gǔ)

A paternal aunt is a female (女) family member whose lineage goes back to the old/ancient (古) generation of your father.

女 semantic woman radical on the left
古 phonetic component on the right providing the 'gu' sound

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 姑 (gū)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 女 (woman) for the semantic category of female relatives, and 古 (ancient/old) to provide the pronunciation and a nod to older generations.

Semantic Evolution: Originally specifically referred to a father's sister, later extended to other female elders, husband's female relatives, and even Buddhist nuns.

In traditional Chinese family structures, paternal aunts held significant social standing.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

cô

Similar to the modern Vietnamese noun 'cô' meaning teacher or aunt.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: コ / Kun: おば

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

고

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Your **paternal aunt** (**gū**) is a **woman** (**女**) who loves telling stories from the **ancient** (**古**) past.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

故

gùcause, reason, pastReplaces the woman radical with 'strike/hand' meaning, denoting past events.

固

gùstrong, solidEnclosed in a box (囗), meaning securely locked in place.

枯

kūwitheredUses the tree/wood radical (木) for dried-up wood.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

故(gù)

Has the 'strike/ref' radical on the left instead of 'woman' (女).

菇(gū)

Adds the grass radical (艹) on top, turning it into 'mushroom'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我周末去看望我的[___]。

Clue: gū gu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone and writing the wrong radical component on the left (e.g., using person instead of woman).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see '姑', what family member does it denote?

Production: How do you write the character for paternal aunt 'gū' using the woman radical?

姑gūpaternal aunt

Speed:

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