接 (jiē) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

接

jiē[jie1]Tone 1

to receive, to connect, to catch

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · to receive, to connect, to catch

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the hand radical 扌) is narrow and compressed, leaving ample space for the complex right component 女 and 立 elements.

1. Meaning

to receive, connect, or catch

to answer a phone callto welcome or meet someoneto take over duty from someone

VerbNeutral#action#communication#interaction

Sample Usage

请接电话。
Qǐng jiē diànhuà.
Please answer the phone.
我去机场接他。
Wǒ qù jīchǎng jiē tā.
I am going to the airport to pick him up.

2. Sound

/[tɕi̯e⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

接

jiējie1

¯(55)

=jiē

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j sound made with blade of tongue against hard palate

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Front of the tongue blade touches the hard palate behind the lower front teeth before releasing gently.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'eh' preceded by a high 'ee' glide

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

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: Maintains a flat, high pitch level without rising or falling, comparable to singing a steady high note.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'j' sound with the English 'j' in 'jump' (which is retroflex/postalveolar and stronger); Mandarin 'j' is produced further forward with the blade of the tongue against the hard palate.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, like a flat musical note held steady at the top of your vocal range.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the hand radical 扌) is narrow and compressed, leaving ample space for the complex right component 女 and 立 elements.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (hand, manual action)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates actions performed with the hand, such as catching, connecting, or receiving.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 妾 (original sound: qiè / jiē)

The hand radical (扌) on the left joins with the phonetic/semantic base 'concubine' (妾) on the right, portraying reaching out a hand to receive or connect.

扌 Hand action
妾 Phonetic clue and historical component

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

5· Phonetic Root: 妾 (qiè)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) indicating physical action and 妾 as the phonetic sound component, originally conveying joining or meeting.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from basic physical touching and joining to abstract meanings like receiving information, answering calls, and taking turns.

The right component 妾 originally depicted a standing woman, but over time fused into a reliable phonetic marker for 'jiē' syllables.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to REACH OUT and CONNECT or CATCH something handed over by a CONCUBINE (妾).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

妾

qièconcubineWithout the hand radical, it represents the base phonetic character meaning concubine.

踏

tàto stepUses the foot radical (足) instead of the hand radical (扌).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

皆(jiē)

Means 'all'; lacks the hand radical (扌) on the left entirely.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

喂，请问您找谁？请稍等，我来[___]电话。

Clue: jiē

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the hand radical on the left with other similar radicals like the water drop (氵) or speech radical (讠).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 接, what core physical and communicative actions come to mind?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to answer the phone' or 'to receive' starting with the hand radical?

接jiēto receive, to connect, to catch

Speed:

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