授 (shòu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

授

shòu[shou4]Tone 4

to confer, to teach, to appoint

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · to confer, to teach, to appoint

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (扌) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (受) room to expand gracefully with its horizontal strokes.

1. Meaning

to give, to confer, or to impart instruction

to appoint to an official positionto transmit skills or knowledge

VerbFormal / LiteraryBound morpheme#education#governance#actions

Sample Usage

教授
jiàoshòu
professor / to instruct
授予
shòuyǔ
to confer / to award

2. Sound

/[ʂoʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

授

shòushou4

`(51)

=shòu

Initial Consonant

Type: Retroflex Fricative

Sounds like: sh sound with tongue curled back

UnaspiratedRetroflex

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate, air flows through a narrow grooved passage.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: ou rhymes with oh

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

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 plunges straight down, exactly like saying a firm 'No!' or giving an abrupt command in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex 'sh' initial with the dental/alveolar 's' initial (sou4 vs shou4).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A decisive karate chop downward, mirroring the sharp falling pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (扌) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (受) room to expand gracefully with its horizontal strokes.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (hand, manual action)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates an action performed with the hand (giving, handing over))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 受 (original sound: shou)

The hand radical (扌) joins with the phonetic/semantic component 'receive' (受) to create the opposite action: to hand over, give, or confer with one's hands.

扌 Hand action
受 To receive (provides phonetic sound 'shou')

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 受 (shòu)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical transfer and '受' (to receive), portraying the physical exchange of passing something from one person's hands to another.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meaning to hand over or pass physically, it broadened to abstract concepts like conferring degrees, imparting knowledge (teaching), and appointing officials.

In ancient times, official seals or imperial decrees were literally 'handed over' (授) to newly appointed officials.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

thụ

Thanh nặng trong tiếng Việt khớp với độ rơi sắc nét của thanh 4 tiếng Trung.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ジュ / Kun: 授.ける

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

수

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

With your own hands (扌), you take what you received (受) and now TEACH and CONFER it to others.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

受

shòuto receiveWithout the hand radical (扌), it means to receive rather than to give/confer.

授

shòuto confer, teachHas the hand radical (扌) on the left, indicating giving with the hands.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

受(shòu)

受 lacks the hand radical (扌) and means to receive, whereas 授 has the hand radical and means to give or teach.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

学校聘请了一位新【___】。

Clue: jiào shòu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 授 (shòu - to give/teach) with 受 (shòu - to receive), which share the same pronunciation and tone but have opposite directional meanings.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 授 combined with 教 to make 教授, what does the whole word mean?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to confer or teach' that combines the hand radical and 'to receive'?

授shòuto confer, to teach, to appoint

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