屑 (xiè) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

屑

xiè[xie4]Tone 4

bits, fragments, crumbs, trifling

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · bits, fragments, crumbs, trifling

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:semi-enclosure (尸 over 九)

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (尸) should shelter and arch gracefully over the lower component (九), keeping the center of gravity balanced along the vertical axis.

1. Meaning

bits, fragments, crumbs, or filings resulting from breaking or grinding down

trifling or trivial mattersto condescend to, to think worthwhile (often used in the negative 觉得不屑)

Noun / Adjective / VerbFormal / Literary / Advanced colloquialBound morpheme#material objects#attitude#scale

Sample Usage

面包屑
miàn bāo xiè
breadcrumbs
不屑一顾
bù xiè yī gù
to disdain as not worth a second glance

2. Sound

/[ɕi̯ɛ˥˩]/Tone: 51

屑

xièxie4

`(51)

=xiè

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

xie

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolo-Palatal Fricative

Sounds like: sh sound pronounced with the tongue blade near the back of the lower teeth and middle tongue raised toward the hard palate

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tip of the tongue rests gently behind the lower front teeth while the mid-tongue rises toward the hard palate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with the 'ye' in 'yes'

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

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, identical to a sharp command like 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Mistaking Tone 4 falling tone for Tone 3 dipping tone, or confusing the alveolo-palatal initial 'x-' with the retroflex 'sh-'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful chop of the hand downwards from head height to chest level, representing the falling 51 tone.

3. Writing

Topology: semi-enclosure (尸 over 九) · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (尸) should shelter and arch gracefully over the lower component (九), keeping the center of gravity balanced along the vertical axis.

4. Components

Radical 尸 · Corpse radical (body, corpse, or shelter structure)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 尸 (provides the general semantic domain of remnants or physical remains)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 卩 (original sound: jié / xiè)

A body (尸) that has been cut into many small parts (represented by other structural strokes) leaves behind tiny bits, crumbs, and fragments (屑).

尸 corpse or roof structure
小 small parts
卩 kneeling seal

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 屑 (xiè)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined elements indicating tiny pieces or fragments falling from a body or structure, eventually generalizing to mean crumbs, dust, or trivial items.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from literal physical fragments (wood chips, crumbs) to abstract trivialities and psychological attitudes of disdain (considering something not worth a crumb of attention).

Frequently used in classical Chinese literature to describe scattered dust or falling snow flakes.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: セツ / Kun: かす

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

설

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine sweeping up tiny bread crumbs and wood fragments (屑) from under a shelter (尸) where a small (小) person is working diligently.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

榍

+ 木 (tree)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

屑(xiè)

Do not confuse with 削 (xiāo - to peel/slice), which features the knife radical 刂 on the right.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

桌子上到处都是面包[___]。

Clue: xiè

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone contour with Tone 3 or mixing up the top '尸' component with '户'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 屑 mean when combined in '面包屑'?

Production: How do you write the character for 'crumbs/fragments' (xiè) with 10 strokes?

屑xièbits, fragments, crumbs, trifling

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0