Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be narrower and slightly higher, while the right phonetic component (检) takes up the majority of the right side with balanced horizontal lines.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 撿 uses 僉 as the phonetic component, which was standardized into 检 in simplified Chinese.
1. Meaning
to pick up or collect things from the ground
to gatherto find something dropped
VerbNeutral#action#manual labor#daily life
Sample Usage
请帮我捡起那支笔。
Qǐng bāng wǒ jiǎn qǐ nà zhī bǐ.
Please help me pick up that pen.
他在地上捡到了一百元。
Tā zài dì shàng jiǎn dào le yì bǎi yuán.
He picked up/found 100 yuan on the ground.
2. Sound
/[t͡ɕi̯an²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
捡
jiǎnjian3
|
++
ˇ(214)
=jiǎn
Initial Consonant
j
Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: soft j sound as in 'jeans' but unvoiced and un aspirated
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the hard palate while the tip rests behind the lower front teeth.
Final Rhyme
ian
Vowel Group: -a vowel group
Sounds like: rhymes with an 'ee-an' combination
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yen'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: The 'i' acts as a palatal glide leading into the open 'a' and nasal 'n'.
Tone
T3 (214)
2 → 1 → 4 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low like a hesitant question in English ('Really?'), dipping down and bouncing back up.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, it changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35).
👂
Listening trap: Confusing it with 1st tone 'jiān' or mistaking the low dipping contour for a flat tone when spoken quickly.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a medium-high pitch, dip down smoothly to the lowest point of your vocal range, and rise back up slightly—like tracing a checkmark in the air.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be narrower and slightly higher, while the right phonetic component (检) takes up the majority of the right side with balanced horizontal lines.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 撿 uses 僉 as the phonetic component, which was standardized into 检 in simplified Chinese.
4. Components
Radical扌 · Hand radical (hands, manual actions, touching)
Semantic Clue (形旁):扌 (indicates that the action is performed with the hand (picking up))
Phonetic Clue (声旁):佥 (original sound: jian)
A hand (扌) reaches down to check and collect (佥) items scattered around.
扌 Hand action
佥 Phonetic clue for 'jiǎn'
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
16· Phonetic Root: 佥 (qiān)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and 佥 providing the pronunciation and secondary semantic nuance of gathering or inspecting.
Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to gathering or collecting items, which extended into modern usages like picking things up from the floor or finding lost objects.
The right-hand component 佥 originally depicted people assembling together, reinforcing the idea of gathering.
6. Sinosphere
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
You use your HAND (扌) to COLLECT and PICK UP coins scattered on the floor.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
检
jiǎnto check / examineUses the wood radical (木) in some variants, or shares the phonetic root 佥 for inspection.
脸
liǎnfaceReplaces the hand radical with the flesh/moon radical (月) for body parts.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
检(jiǎn)
检 means 'to inspect/check' (often with wood/structure), whereas 捡 uses the hand radical (扌) specifically for physical pickup actions.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
地上有一张 100 元，快把它___起来！
Clue: jiǎn
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing 捡 (to pick up) with 找 (to look for / to give change) or 拿 (to hold / to take).
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 捡 mean when you see it combined with 起 (up) as in 捡起?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to pick up' 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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捡jiǎnto pick up
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