憂 (yōu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

憂

yōu[you1]Tone 1

to worry, anxiety

HSK 6

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忧

Guru Deep Dive

English · to worry, anxiety

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The upper part (head and heart elements) should be balanced compactly over the bottom walking/footer element (夂). Keep the center vertical axis aligned.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 憂 is heavily simplified in the upper and middle portions to reduce stroke count while retaining the core visual skeleton.

1. Meaning

to worry or be concerned about something

anxiety or sorrowto observe traditional mourning (literary)

Verb / Adjective / Nounneutral (can be literary in compounds like 忧伤)#emotion#mental state#psychology

Sample Usage

请不要担心，我会帮你的。
qǐng bù yào dān xīn, wǒ huì bāng nǐ de.
Please don't worry, I will help you. (Note: uses compound 担心)
国家多难，令人堪忧。
guó jiā duō nán, lìng rén kān yōu.
The country faces many hardships, which is worrying to people.

2. Sound

/[joʊ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

憂

yōuyou1

¯(55)

=yōu

Initial Consonant

Type: Palatal Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: Zero-initial glide 'y'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Starts with a high front tongue position like the English 'y' in 'yes', then transitions to the back.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -ou rhymes with oh/ow sound

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

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 is high and level, like a sustained musical note at the top of your vocal range.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the first tone yōu (55) with the fourth tone yòu (51). Make sure to keep the pitch high and level rather than dropping it.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a steady, flat high note, just like singing a high musical note 'la' without moving up or down. Imagine holding a high horizontal line with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The upper part (head and heart elements) should be balanced compactly over the bottom walking/footer element (夂). Keep the center vertical axis aligned.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 憂 is heavily simplified in the upper and middle portions to reduce stroke count while retaining the core visual skeleton.

4. Components

Radical 心 · Heart radical (Heart, emotions, mind)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 心 (Indicates that worry and sorrow stem from the heart and emotions.)

The character combines head-scratching elements of worry over a heart (心), illustrating a troubled mind and sorrowful feelings.

𠂊 Top component representing head/hands
心 Heart representing internal feelings
夂 Walking or trailing component at the bottom

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 頁 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted a person with a heavy head or burdened heart, representing grief and anxiety.

Semantic Evolution: Over time, the glyph streamlined into its current components, stabilizing the meaning around mental distress, anxiety, and sorrow.

In classical Chinese poetry, 忧 (憂) frequently appears to express melancholy over state affairs or personal exile.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

ưu

Corresponds to the ngang (level) tone in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ユウ (yū) / Kun: うれ.える (ure.eru), うれ.い (ure.i)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

우

Sound Shift Bridge: Direct sound correspondence exists through historical readings across East Asian languages sharing Sinitic vocabulary roots.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Your HEART (心) is heavy with worries because you walk (夂) around with a troubled head all day long, feeling deep YOYO-like ups and downs of anxiety (yōu).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

优

yōuexcellent, superiorReplaced the bottom with person (亻) to mean an outstanding person or actor.

犹

yóustill, yet, likeUses dog/animal radical (犭) on the left instead of heart.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

优(yōu)

优 has the person radical (亻) meaning excellent; 忧 has the heart radical (心) meaning worried.

说(shuō)

Do not confuse the right side structure with language components.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

听到這個消息，大家都很[___]。

Clue: yōu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the simplified 忧 with its traditional counterpart 憂 or mixing it up with phonetically similar characters like 有 (yǒu).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 忧, what emotion does it represent?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to worry' (yōu) with 7 strokes?

憂yōuto worry, anxiety

Speed:

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