康 (kāng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

康

kāng[kang1]Tone 1

healthy

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · healthy

Cached lesson

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Topology:Semi-enclosure

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The outer shelter (广) should gracefully arch over the inner components, leaving enough breathing room inside so the character does not look cramped.

1. Meaning

healthy

peacefulabundantsurname Kang

AdjectiveNeutral#well-being#health#society

Sample Usage

祝你身体健康。
zhù nǐ shēntǐ kāng.
I wish you good health.
这里的生活非常安康。
zhèli de shēnghuó fēicháng ānkāng.
Life here is very peaceful and well.

2. Sound

/[kʰäŋ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

康

kāngkang1

¯(55)

=kāng

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Velar

Sounds like: k sound as in kite

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong gust of air from throat! Tissue held in front MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue touches the soft palate, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

ang

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ang rhymes with sung or hung

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

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

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 stays flat and high across your vocal range, similar to when you say 'Aah!' in surprise or hold a flat musical note.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the high level tone (Tone 1) with the rising tone (Tone 2), making it sound like 'káng' instead of a steady 'kāng'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine a high, steady singer holding a single high note without wavering; use a flat hand gesture held high in the air.

3. Writing

Topology: Semi-enclosure · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The outer shelter (广) should gracefully arch over the inner components, leaving enough breathing room inside so the character does not look cramped.

4. Components

Radical 广 · Shelter Radical (Building, shelter, or cliff)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 广 (Indicates a shelter or covered structure where people can rest safely)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 隶 (original sound: lì / kāng sound family relation)

A shelter (广) protecting people, bringing together grains and rice (米) under one roof to ensure everyone is well-fed and healthy.

广 Shelter / building
隶 Component lending structural form and historical phonetic connection

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 康 (kāng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted a shelter or granary where abundance and peace were stored. Over time, the character evolved to represent peace, well-being, and health.

Semantic Evolution: From a physical shelter protecting grain to the abstract concept of health, peace, and soundness.

Famous compounds include 健康 (jiànkāng - health) and 安康 (ānkāng - peace and health).

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

Khang

Matches the Mandarin high level tone with the Vietnamese level tone (thanh ngang).

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カウ / カン

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

강

Sound Shift Bridge: The root 'kang' corresponds directly to Sino-Xenic readings across East Asian languages.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Inside a secure shelter (广), people live in peace, eat well, and stay strong and healthy (康).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

糠

kāngchaff, branAdd the rice radical (米) on the left for rice bran.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

糠(kāng)

糠 has the rice radical (米) on the left because chaff comes from rice, whereas 康 uses the shelter radical (广).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

保持身心[___]对每个人都很重要。

Clue: kāng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the shelter radical (广) with the cliff radical (厂) or writing the inner component incorrectly.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 康 mean when you see it in 健康 (jiànkāng)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'healthy / peaceful' (kāng) starting with the shelter radical?

康kānghealthy

Speed:

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