Writing Balance Rule: The left side (Hand radical 扌) should be narrower and slightly elevated, while the right side (亥) provides the structural bulk and must be balanced without leaning too far right.
1. Meaning
to be close to, touch, or lean against
in sequence, one by one, in orderto suffer or endure (e.g. beating, scolding)
VerbNeutral#position#sequence#action
Sample Usage
大家排好队，一个挨一个。
Dajia pai hao dui, yi ge ai yi ge.
Line up nicely, one right after another.
船挨着岸停下来。
Chuan ai zhe an ting xia lai.
The boat stopped close to the shore.
2. Sound
/[aɪ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
挨
āiai1
|
++
¯(55)
=āi
Initial Consonant
∅
Type: Zero Initial (Pure Vowel)
Sounds like: Zero initial (starts directly with the vowel sound)
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Starts directly on the vowel sound without consonant obstruction.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue lies flat and low in the mouth for 'a', then raises slightly toward the hard palate for the 'i' offglide.
Final Rhyme
ai
Vowel Group: -a vowel group
Sounds like: rhymes with 'eye'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'eye'.
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 sung at a high, level pitch, similar to the high sustained note when saying 'eeeee' in surprise.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing it with the fourth tone 'ài' (to suffer / to endure), which drops sharply in pitch.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A flat, high horizontal line in the air, like singing a high note steadily without wavering.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (Hand radical 扌) should be narrower and slightly elevated, while the right side (亥) provides the structural bulk and must be balanced without leaning too far right.
4. Components
Radical扌 · Hand radical (Hand, physical action or touch)
Semantic Clue (形旁):扌 (Indicates physical proximity, touching, or arranging with the hands)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):亥 (original sound: hài / āi)
A hand (扌) reaches out to touch or line up objects (亥) right next to each other.
扌 Hand component (left)
亥 Phonetic and structural component (right)
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
5· Phonetic Root: 矣 (yǐ)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical contact or placement, and 亥 as the phonetic indicator giving the sound.
Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting touching or pressing against, it expanded to mean standing close together, and by extension, doing things sequentially in order.
The character bridges physical touch with spatial sequence because things placed hand-to-hand naturally form a row.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
ai
Similar to Vietnamese level tone (thanh ngang).
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: アイ (ai)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
애
Sound Shift Bridge: Shares the basic 'ai' diphthong found across many language families.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
You use your hand (扌) to arrange items in order (亥) so they are touching and right next to each other.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
核
hécore, nucleusUses tree radical (木) instead of hand (扌) with 亥.
该
gāishould, ought toUses speech radical (讠) instead of hand (扌) with 亥.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
挨(ái)
Identical character, but Tone 4 (ái) means to suffer or endure (e.g. 挨打 beaten), whereas Tone 1 (āi) means to be close to or in order.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我们按照座位顺序，一个[___]一个地进教室。
Clue: āi
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the first tone meaning (close to, in sequence) with the fourth tone meaning (to suffer, as in enduring a punishment or hardship).
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 挨 mean when pronounced with Tone 1 (āi) in the context of people standing in a line?
Production: How do you write the verb meaning 'to be close to' or 'in sequence' using the hand radical?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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挨āiin order; close to
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