Writing Balance Rule: The top horizontal hook stroke anchors the character, while the bottom curved hook sweeps gracefully to the right, maintaining a balanced center of gravity.
1. Meaning
particularly, especially
outstandingfaultblameto express discontentmentsurname You
The weather is very good today, and even more so in the afternoon.
他喜欢所有运动，尤 擅 长 篮 球。
tā xǐhuan suǒyǒu yùndòng, yóu shàncháng lánqiú.
He likes all sports, and is particularly good at basketball.
2. Sound
/[joʊ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35
尤
yóuyou2
|
++
´(35)
=yóu
Initial Consonant
y
Type: Palatal Glide (Zero Initial)
Sounds like: y/i semi-vowel glide sound
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue starts near the high front position of 'ee' before gliding into the vowel.
Final Rhyme
ou
Vowel Group: -o vowel group
Sounds like: -ou rhymes with oh
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oh'.
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 starts at a mid pitch and rises sharply to the top, exactly like asking a surprised 'What?' in English.
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Listening trap: Confusing the rising tone (Tone 2) with Tone 4, or mispronouncing the initial 'y' as a hard English 'j' sound.
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Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from your chest and sweeping upward and forward like a rising airplane.
3. Writing
Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The top horizontal hook stroke anchors the character, while the bottom curved hook sweeps gracefully to the right, maintaining a balanced center of gravity.
4. Components
Radical尢 · Lame Radical (lame or hobbling person)
Semantic Clue (形旁):尢 (Depicts a person with a twisted leg or deformity, pointing to an exception or fault.)
Imagine a person standing tall (像大), but with a slight extra dot or protruding flaw (尤) on top, making them stand out or showing an imperfection.
尢 Lame person / anomaly
丶 A protruding mark or blemish
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
2· Phonetic Root: 尢 (wāng)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally depicted a person with a bent leg (尢) with an extra mark emphasizing a defect, anomaly, or something standing out from the normal crowd.
Semantic Evolution: From 'flaw' or 'defect', the meaning shifted to 'fault' or 'blame', and further extended to mean 'outstanding' (standing out beyond others) and 'especially'.
In ancient texts, it was frequently used interchangeably with 犹 or 愆 (fault/mistake).
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
vưu
Mandarin rising tone 2 corresponds to Vietnamese hỏi or sắc depending on historical register; here mapped to vưu.
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Kanji (Japanese)
On: ユウ / Kun: もっとも, とがめる
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Hanja (Korean)
유
Sound Shift Bridge: Shared East Asian literary root 'you / yū / y유 / vưu' used in classical compounds.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
An OUTSTANDING athlete (yóu) stands out PARTICULARLY because he has a unique style despite a minor physical flaw symbolized by the extra dot on top.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
就
jiùat once, thenCombines a capital/building shape on the left with 尤 on the right.
尊
zūnrespect, honoredFeatures 尤 at the bottom supporting wine vessels and hands.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
犬(quǎn)
犬 means dog and has a hooked stroke crossing through the top right, whereas 尤 has a dot floating freely above the top horizontal stroke.
太(tài)
太 has a horizontal stroke passing through the middle of 大, whereas 尤 has a dot and a hooked bend.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
这件衣服很漂亮，[___]其价格很便宜。
Clue: yóu
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing 尤 (yóu) with 由 (yóu) or 油 (yóu) due to similar sound bases, or miswriting the top dot as part of a larger radical.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 尤, what adverb does it form with 其 to mean 'especially'?
Production: How do you write the 4-stroke character meaning 'particularly' or 'fault'?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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尤yóuparticularly, especially
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