拴 (shuān) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

拴

shuān[shuan1]Tone 1

to tie up

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to tie up

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample space for the right component (全) to maintain structural harmony without leaning.

1. Meaning

to tie up, fasten, tether

to bindto secure with a rope or chain

VerbNeutral#actions#fastening#manipulation

Sample Usage

把马拴在树上。
bǎ mǎ shuān zài shù shàng.
Tie the horse to the tree.
把门拴好。
bǎ mén shuān hǎo.
Bolt the door securely.

2. Sound

/[ʂu̯an⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

拴

shuānshuan1

¯(55)

=shuān

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

shuan

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Retroflex Fricative

Sounds like: sh sound with tongue curled back (retroflex)

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Hollow wind sound through curled tongue channel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip is curled back toward the hard palate, creating a friction sound without plosion.

Final Rhyme

uan

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: wahn sound (rhymes with 'swan')

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

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 at the top of your vocal range, exactly like singing a single sustained note.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial 'sh-' with the alveolar 's-', or mishearing the final '-uan' as '-un'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and steady at eye level, making a straight horizontal chop from left to right to signify the high level tone.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample space for the right component (全) to maintain structural harmony without leaning.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand action or manual manipulation)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates that the action is performed using the hands (tying, fastening).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 全 (original sound: quán / shuān)

A hand (扌) makes sure everything is kept safe, complete, and fastened tightly (全).

扌 Hand component (left)
全 Complete/whole component providing sound and structure (right)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 全 (quán)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and (全) providing the pronunciation and a sense of making something secure or complete.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting the physical action of tethering animals or securing doors, extending to general fastening and binding.

Traditional door bolts in ancient China were wooden bars used to secure gates, giving rise to terms involving fastening.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to COMPLETELY (全) TIE UP the restless horse to the post so it cannot run away.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

全

quánwhole, complete, allPhonetic Core (声旁)

栓

shuānbottle stopper; plug+ 木 (tree)

筌

quánbamboo fish trap+ ⺮ (bamboo)

荃

quán(fragrant plant)+ 艹 (plants)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

栓(shuān)

栓 has the wood radical (木) for a wooden stopper/bolt, while 拴 has the hand radical (扌) for the physical action of tying.

全(quán)

全 lacks the hand radical (扌) entirely and simply means 'whole' or 'complete'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请把自行车[___]在栏杆上。

Clue: shuān

Common Learner Pitfall

Writing the right-hand side as a different character or forgetting the hand radical (扌) on the left, confusing it with '全'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 拴, what action does it describe and what is its Pinyin?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to tie up' or 'tether'?

拴shuānto tie up

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