嫌 (xián) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

嫌

xián[xian2]Tone 2

to dislike, suspicion, resentment

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · to dislike, suspicion, resentment

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (女) occupies roughly one-third of the width, while the right component (兼) takes up the remaining two-thirds. Ensure the horizontal strokes in the right component are evenly spaced and do not collide with the woman radical.

1. Meaning

to dislike or mind something

suspicionresentmentenmitycriminal suspect abbreviation

VerbNeutral#emotions#interpersonal relations#law

Sample Usage

他嫌菜太咸。
tā xián cài tài xián.
He complains the food is too salty / dislikes the food for being too salty.
嫌贫爱富
xián pín ài fù
to despise the poor and fawn on the rich

2. Sound

/[ɕi̯ɛn³⁵]/Tone: 35

嫌

xiánxian2

´(35)

=xián

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolo-Palatal Fricative

Sounds like: soft sh / hs sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Hissing friction with lips stretched wide in a smile.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue approaches the hard palate with the tip down behind lower teeth, creating a soft voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative.

Final Rhyme

ian

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ee-an rhyme

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

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 from mid-pitch (35) just like an upward inflection in English when you ask 'Really?'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'x-' ([ɕ]) with 'sh-' ([ʂ]). Remember 'x-' is softer, like a cat hissing with your tongue flat near the roof of your mouth, not curled back.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 rises like a questioning upward sweep of your hand, e.g., asking 'What?'.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

4. Components

Radical 女 · Woman Radical (female, woman)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 女 (indicates human emotion, attitude, or archaic social contexts regarding women)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 兼 (original sound: jiān / xián)

A person with a woman radical (女) combined with 'concurrently/double' (兼) evokes an attitude of holding multiple grievances, suspicion, or turning away in dislike.

女 woman / female (semantic anchor)
兼 concurrent / double (phonetic and structural clue)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

12· Phonetic Root: 兼 (jiān)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Formed as a phono-semantic compound where 女 (woman) provides the semantic domain of personal sentiment or relations, and 兼 (jiān) provides the phonetic sound while contributing a sense of holding together or dual burdens.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to suspicion or resentment between people, expanding to general dislike, complaining, and in modern legal terms, an abbreviation for a criminal suspect (嫌犯).

The phonetic component 兼 gives both sound and a subtle nuance of 'holding multiple thoughts or suspicions'.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ケン (ken) / Kun: 嫌う (kirau) / 嫌い (kirai)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A woman (女) holding two (兼) grudges at the same time starts to DISLIKE and SUSPECT everyone around her.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

赚

zhuànto earn / profitReplaces the woman radical with shells/money (贝) to mean making a profit.

谦

qiānmodestUses speech radical (讠) to mean modest words.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

谦(qiān)

谦 uses speech radical (讠) for modesty; 嫌 uses woman/person radical (女) for dislike and suspicion.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他嫌这件衣服太贵，所以没买。

Clue: xián

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone (Tone 2 xián) with Tone 4 xiàn, or misapplying the graphic components with 谦 (qiān).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 嫌 mean and what is its primary phonetic clue?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to dislike/suspicion' (xián) using 女 and 兼?

嫌xiánto dislike, suspicion, resentment

Speed:

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