捶 (chuí) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

捶

chuí[chui2]Tone 2

to beat, thump, or pound

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to beat, thump, or pound

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌 hand) should be compact and narrower, while the right component (垂) must remain wide, balanced, and horizontally stable.

1. Meaning

to beat with a stick or one's fist, to thump, to pound

to massage or knead by striking gently (e.g. pounding sore muscles)

VerbNeutral#action#physical contact#body movement

Sample Usage

捶背
chuí bèi
to beat or massage someone's back
捶胸顿足
chuí xiōng dùn zú
to beat one's chest and stamp one's feet (idiom expressing extreme grief or frustration)

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

捶

chuíchui2

´(35)

=chuí

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

chui

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per the side-by-side rule (in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: ch sound with retroflex tongue position

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -way rhymes with sway

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

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 starts in the mid register and rises sharply to the top, exactly like asking 'Huh?' in English.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3 syllable, the first syllable shifts to a rising Tone 2.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the retroflex initial 'ch-' with the dental affricate 'c-' or alveolar 'q-'. Ensure you hear the retroflex tongue curling.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture moving from low-middle to high, matching a question mark 'What?'.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌 hand) should be compact and narrower, while the right component (垂) must remain wide, balanced, and horizontally stable.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand actions, hitting, or manual manipulation)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates that the action is performed with the hand, fist, or an instrument held in the hand.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 垂 (original sound: chuí)

A hand (扌) reaches out to pound or beat down using a heavy hanging tool or fist represented by 垂.

扌 Hand component (semantic clue for action)
垂 To hang down / phonetic component providing the sound chuí

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

11· Phonetic Root: 垂 (chuí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and 垂 (chuí, meaning to droop or hang) providing the sound and the imagery of striking downward.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to striking or pounding with an object or fist, the meaning has remained remarkably consistent across centuries.

Often used in ancient texts to describe pounding clothes during washing or beating drums in battle.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Your hand (扌) swings down like a hanging pendulum (垂) to rhythmically pound and thump (chuí) on the table.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

垂

chuíto hang downPhonetic Core (声旁)

睡

shuìto sleep+ 目 (eye)

唾

tuòsaliva; to spit+ 口 (mouth)

锤

chuíhammer+ 钅 (metal)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

垂(chuí)

垂 lacks the hand radical (扌) on the left side.

睡(shuì)

睡 has the eye radical (目) instead of the hand radical (扌).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

走路走累了，可以让家人帮你[___]背。

Clue: chuí

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the phonetic right component 垂 with similar-looking characters like 睡, or failing to add the hand radical (扌) when writing manually.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 捶, what physical action does it represent and what is its Pinyin?

Production: How do you write the verb meaning 'to beat or thump with the fist' (chuí)?

捶chuíto beat, thump, or pound

Speed:

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