HanziGuru.寸 · cùn
寸
cùn[cun4]Tone 4

inch, Chinese inch (unit of length), thumb

HSK 4
Guru Deep Dive

English · inch, Chinese inch (unit of length), thumb

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Topology:Single character
Strokes:3
Writing Balance Rule: Center the vertical hook directly underneath the horizontal bar and the intersecting vertical line, keeping the dot positioned neatly in the lower right quadrant.
1. Meaning

inch (a traditional Chinese unit of length equivalent to 1/3 decimeter)

thumbsmall, tiny, minorshort distance or brief moment
Noun / Measure wordNeutral / Traditional#measurement#anatomy#size
Sample Usage
  • 寸步难行
    cùn bù nán xíng
    hard to move a single step (idiom)
  • 一寸光阴一寸金
    yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn
    an inch of time is an inch of gold (time is precious)
2. Sound
/[tsʰun⁵¹]/Tone: 51
寸
cùncun4
++
`(51)
=cùn
Initial Consonant
c
Type: Aspirated Dental Sibilant
Sounds like: ts sound (like 'ts' in cats)
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Sharp burst of air through teeth! Tissue MUST flutter strongly.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches behind the lower teeth, then releases with a sharp burst of air.
Final Rhyme
un
Vowel Group: -u vowel group
Sounds like: -oon sound (like 'oon' in spoon)
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'wuhn'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: Short for uen
Tone
T4 (51)
4th Tone (High-Falling)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply downward, similar to an emphatic English 'No!' or 'Stop!'.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the unvoiced aspirated initial 'c-' with the unaspirated 'z-' (ts), or mishearing the vowel as '-ong'.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp karate chop downward from high to low, reflecting the abrupt falling pitch of Tone 4.
3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 3 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Center the vertical hook directly underneath the horizontal bar and the intersecting vertical line, keeping the dot positioned neatly in the lower right quadrant.

4. Components

Radical 寸 · Inch Radical (Thumb, inch, measurement)

An iconic pictograph of a human hand showing the pulse point located one inch below the wrist crease, marked with a small dot.

  • 一 Horizontal line representing the arm or baseline
  • 丨 Vertical trunk/wrist line
  • 丶 Dot indicating the pulse location
5. History
Liushu category: Indicative (指事)

Origin: Oracle bone scripts depict a hand with a dot marked precisely one Chinese inch (cun) down from the wrist crease where pulse diagnosis is taken in traditional Chinese medicine.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to the anatomical pulse point on the wrist, then generalized into a standard unit of length (the Chinese inch), and eventually came to represent smallness or brevity.

  • In traditional Chinese medicine, the wrist pulse measurement is foundational for diagnosing internal organ conditions.
  • One traditional Chinese cun is roughly equivalent to the width of a person's thumb joint.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
thốn
Matches the Chinese Tone 4 falling pitch with the Vietnamese falling sắc or nặng tone feel.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: スン (sun) / Kun: き - ki
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
촌
Sound Shift Bridge: The historical initial dental/alveolar affricate cluster evolved into 'c' in Mandarin Pinyin and 'th' in Sino-Vietnamese.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture a doctor placing a single thumb (寸) on a patient's wrist exactly one inch from the hand to check their pulse.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
过
guòto pass, to crossCombines movement enclosure with 寸
对
duìcorrect, rightCombines left-side hand/element with 寸
封
fēngto seal, letterCombines soil and clay elements with 寸
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
过(guò)
过 has a moving enclosure wrapper around it, whereas 寸 is a standalone simple character.
对(duì)
对 features a left component (又) next to 寸, making it wider.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
这块布料只有几___长。
Clue: cùn
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the stroke order: writing the horizontal and vertical hook first, and adding the dot last instead of integrating it properly.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 寸, what unit of measurement and body part does it evoke?
Production: How do you write the 3-stroke character for 'inch / thumb' (cùn)?
Real-World Video Context

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

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