扩 (kuò) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

扩

kuò[kuo4]Tone 4

to enlarge

HSK 4

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擴

Guru Deep Dive

English · to enlarge

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (hand component) should be narrower and slightly elevated compared to the right phonetic component to maintain a balanced, stable square footprint.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 擴 uses 黃 as its phonetic component, which was retained in the simplified form 扩.

1. Meaning

to enlarge, expand, extend

to spreadto dilate

VerbNeutral#size#action#dimension

Sample Usage

扩大
kuòdà
to expand, to enlarge
扩散
kuòsàn
to spread, to proliferate

2. Sound

/[kʰuo⁵¹]/Tone: 51

扩

kuòkuo4

`(51)

=kuò

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 rises against the soft palate to release a burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -uo rhymes with 'wore' without the final r

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

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 abruptly to the bottom, like a firm, definitive command in English ('Stop!').

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the 4th tone falling pitch with a 3rd tone dipping pitch, or mispronouncing the initial 'ku-' as 'gw-'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp karate chop downward from high to low, mirroring the abrupt falling pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (hand component) should be narrower and slightly elevated compared to the right phonetic component to maintain a balanced, stable square footprint.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 擴 uses 黃 as its phonetic component, which was retained in the simplified form 扩.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand, action done with hands)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates physical action or manipulation (widening or stretching with hands).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 广 (original sound: kuò)

Combining the Hand radical (扌) on the left with the phonetic/semantic structure on the right to show the action of stretching or widening something with one's hands.

扌 Hand action
广 Structure or shelter component providing sound/broad hint

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

5· Phonetic Root: 扌 (shǒu)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical representing physical manipulation and a phonetic element to denote the extension or enlargement of boundaries.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to physical stretching or expanding of objects, its meaning generalized to abstract concepts such as expanding scope, enlarging businesses, or spreading information.

Appears frequently in modern administrative, scientific, and technical terminology for expansion.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

khuếch

The entering tone / high checked quality in Sino-Vietnamese corresponds to Mandarin Tone 4.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カク / Kun: ひろ.げる

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

확

Sound Shift Bridge: Shares East Asian cultural root morphemes for expansion (e.g., Japanese 拡大 kakudai).

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine using your **hands** (扌) to pull open the walls of a wide **shelter/building** (广), forcing it to **enlarge** (kuò) and make more space inside.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

扩

kuòto enlargeBase character with hand radical

矿

kuàngmine, oreUses stone radical (石) instead of hand radical

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

矿(kuàng)

矿 uses the stone radical (石) for minerals/mines, whereas 扩 uses the hand radical (扌) for physical expansion.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们应该[___]公司的业务范围。

Clue: kuò dà

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the hand radical (扌) with the water radical (氵) or confusing the tone with tone 1 or 3.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 扩, what is its primary meaning and pronunciation in Tone 4?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to enlarge' (kuò) using the hand radical?

扩kuòto enlarge

Speed:

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