HanziGuru.季 · jì
季
jì[ji4]Tone 4

season

HSK 4
Guru Deep Dive

English · season

Cached lesson
1 / 1
Topology:Top-bottom
Strokes:8
Writing Balance Rule: The top '禾' (grain plant) part should be slightly condensed, while the bottom '子' (child) part anchors the character with a wide, stable base stroke.
1. Meaning

season

surname Jithe last month of a seasonfourth or youngest amongst brothersclassifier for seasonal crop yields
NounNeutral#time#nature#family
Sample Usage
  • 四季
    sìjì
    four seasons
  • 季节
    jìjié
    season / time of year
2. Sound
/[tɕi⁵¹]/Tone: 51
季
jìji4
++
`(51)
=jì
Initial Consonant
j
Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: j sound as in 'jeep'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the hard palate, releasing with gentle friction.
Final Rhyme
i
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: ee sound as in 'see'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ee'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T4 (51)
4th Tone (High-Falling)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 drops sharply from high to low pitch, similar to a sharp command like 'Stop!' or 'No!'.
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (jì - sharp drop) with Tone 1 (jī - high level) or Tone 3 (jǐ - dipping).
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 starts high and chops straight down like a karate chop or nodding 'YES!' firmly.
3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top '禾' (grain plant) part should be slightly condensed, while the bottom '子' (child) part anchors the character with a wide, stable base stroke.

4. Components

Radical 子 · child radical (child, seed)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 子 (denotes the young or latter stage of a cycle)

A grain plant (禾) at the top meets a child/seed (子) at the bottom, signifying the final harvest or yield of the seasonal agricultural cycle.

  • 禾 grain plant
  • 子 child / seed / final part
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined '禾' (grain) and '子' (child/seed), representing the completion of agricultural crop cycles yielding seeds at the end of the year.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from agricultural harvest timing to general divisions of the year (seasons), and extended to mean the youngest sibling in a family.

  • In ancient familial ranking, brothers were designated by Bo (eldest), Zhong (second), Shu (third), and Ji (youngest).
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
quý
Mandarin Tone 4 corresponds to Vietnamese falling/heavy tones.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: ケイ
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
계
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

Every SEASON (jì), the GRAIN (禾) matures and produces new SEEDS/CHILDREN (子) for the next planting.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
季
jìseasonBase character
梨
lípearHas a tree (木) at the bottom instead of child (子).
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
李(lǐ)
Top is 禾 (grain) for 季, but 木 (tree) over 子 for 李 (surname Li).
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
中国有春、夏、秋、冬四个[___]。
Clue: jì jié
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the top component 禾 with 木, leading to mix-ups with characters like 李.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does the character 季 mean and how is it pronounced with tones?
Production: How do you write the character for 'season' (jì) using 禾 and 子?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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