憾 (hàn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

憾

hàn[han4]Tone 4

regret

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · regret

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:16

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (heart) must be compressed slightly to make room for the complex right phonetic component, maintaining vertical harmony.

1. Meaning

regret (sense of loss or dissatisfaction)

sorrowremorse

noun / verbliterary / formalBound morpheme#emotions#mental states#psychology

Sample Usage

感到遗憾
gǎndào yíhàn
to feel regret
遗憾的是...
yíhàn de shì...
It is a pity that...

2. Sound

/[xän⁵¹]/Tone: 51

憾

hànhan4

`(51)

=hàn

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound like in 'hat'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: Velar friction in the back of the throat, tongue flat.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' or 'un' in 'bun' with a broad a

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

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 drops sharply from high (5) to low (1), like shouting 'No!' in frustration or disappointment.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (hàn) with Tone 3 (hǎn), which dips low and rises.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp downward nod of the head, matching the sudden disappointment of a regretful sigh.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 16 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (heart) must be compressed slightly to make room for the complex right phonetic component, maintaining vertical harmony.

4. Components

Radical 忄 · Vertical Heart Radical (heart, emotions, psychological state)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 忄 (Indicates that the word relates to an emotional state or feeling.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 感 (original sound: gǎn / hàn)

The vertical heart radical (忄) on the left combines with the phonetic and semantic base 'feel/perceive' (感) on the right to represent the heavy feeling in one's heart when experiencing regret.

忄 heart / emotion
感 feeling / perception

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 感 (gǎn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the heart radical (忄) showing inner feelings and 感 (gǎn) providing both the sound and the concept of feeling or sensing deeply.

Semantic Evolution: Originally signified an uneasy or unsatisfied feeling in the heart, which narrowed down over time specifically to 'regret' or 'remorse'.

Often paired with 憾 (hàn) in classical and modern Chinese compounds like 遗憾 (yíhàn).

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カン / Kun: うらみ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

감

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Deep inside your HEART (忄), you feel a sudden SENSATION (感) of bitter REGRET (憾) for a missed opportunity.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

感

gǎnto feel / senseWithout the heart radical, it is simply the general verb 'to feel'.

憾

hànregretFeatures the vertical heart radical (忄) emphasizing emotional pain.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

感(gǎn)

感 has the mouth component at the bottom; 憾 adds the heart radical (忄) on the left.

汗(hàn)

汗 uses the water radical (氵) meaning sweat, whereas 憾 uses the heart radical (忄) meaning emotion.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这次比赛没有拿到冠军，真是一个巨大的[___]。

Clue: yí hàn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 憾 (hàn - regret) with 汗 (hàn - sweat) due to identical pinyin and tone.

Memory Prompts

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

Production: How do you write the character for 'regret' (hàn) using the heart radical and 'gǎn'?

憾hànregret

Speed:

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