Writing Balance Rule: The left component (己) should be compact and slightly narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right component (心) which anchors the emotional foundation of the character.
1. Meaning
to be jealous of, fear, dread, or abstain from
to quit or give up a habit or foodtaboo or religious scruple
VerbFormal / Literary#emotions#behavior#taboos
Sample Usage
嫉妒
jídù
to be jealous, envy
忌口
jìkǒu
to abstain from certain food for health reasons
2. Sound
/[t͡ɕi⁵¹]/Tone: 51
忌
jìji4
|
++
`(51)
=jì
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
ji
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
j
Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: like the 'j' in 'jeep' but with the tongue blade flat against the palate
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue blade raised toward the hard palate, teeth nearly closed, lips slightly spread.
Final Rhyme
i
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: rhymes with the 'ee' 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)
5 → 1 (51)
4th Tone (High-Falling)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, identical to an emphatic English command like 'No!' or 'Stop!'.
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 4 syllable, it softens slightly to a 53 contour, though the sharp drop remains the primary acoustic target.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the sharp falling Tone 4 (jì) with the rising Tone 2 (jí), which completely changes the word from fear/avoidance to jealousy or haste.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Chop your hand down sharply from a high position to indicate the strong downward drop of Tone 4, like a sudden drop in emotion.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left component (己) should be compact and slightly narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right component (心) which anchors the emotional foundation of the character.
4. Components
Radical心 · Heart radical (Heart, mind, emotions)
Semantic Clue (形旁):心 (Provides the emotional and mental aspect of fear, jealousy, and caution)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):己 (original sound: jǐ)
A person's own self (己) weighed down by dark thoughts in the heart (心), creating a feeling of envy, dread, and strict avoidance.
己 oneself / phonetic clue
心 heart / semantic core
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
2· Phonetic Root: 忌 (jì)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined 己 (oneself) and 心 (heart) to represent the inner mental restriction, self-restraint, or psychological barrier one feels towards taboos or rivals.
Semantic Evolution: Shifted from personal self-restraint and taboo to broader meanings of dread, envy, and abstaining from harmful actions or substances.
In ancient rituals, 忌 referred strictly to mourning periods or taboos associated with ancestral spirits.
6. Sinosphere
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: キ / Kun: い.む, はばか.る, す.る
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
기
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Deep inside your own heart (心), you keep a strict check on *yourself* (己)—you *avoid* eating bad food, *dread* bad outcomes, and feel a twinge of jealousy.
自己 uses 己 without the heart radical to mean 'oneself'.
记(jì)
记 has the speech radical (讠) for remembering words, whereas 忌 has the heart (心) for emotional dread.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
医生建议他最近要[___]辛辣食物。
Clue: jì
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the placement of the vertical stroke in 己 inside the character, or writing it with a standard mouth box instead of the open-bottom stroke of 己.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 忌 in words like 忌妒 or 忌口, what core dual concept should immediately come to mind?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to avoid/fear' (jì) using the self component and the heart radical?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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忌jìto envy, fear, or avoid
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