提 (dī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

提

dī[di1]Tone 1

to carry or to guard against

HSK 2

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to carry or to guard against

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (hand component) should be narrower and slightly higher, while the right phonetic component takes up the bulk of the right side with balanced horizontal lines.

1. Meaning

to carry in the hand with arm hanging down, or to guard against

to raise or liftto bring up a topic

VerbNeutral#action#hands#awareness

Sample Usage

提防小偷
dī fang xiǎo tōu
guard against pickpockets
提着水桶
dī zhe shuǐ tǒng
carrying a bucket

2. Sound

/[ti⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

提

dīdi1

¯(55)

=dī

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the upper alveolar ridge before releasing with a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound in see

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

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 a high, level pitch held flat across the entire syllable, corresponding to a flat musical note in speech.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the first tone pronunciation (dī) with the second tone pronunciation (tí), which means 'to lift or carry' and is much more common.

👋

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

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand, manual action)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates an action performed with the hand (carrying, holding).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 是 (original sound: shì / tí)

The hand radical (扌) on the left combines with the phonetic and semantic base 'is' or root structure (是) on the right to show lifting or holding something with the hand.

扌 Hand action
是 Phonetic and structural component

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

13· Phonetic Root: 是 (shì)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) denoting physical action and the phonetic element 是 providing the sound base for lifting and carrying.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to lift with the hand, it later expanded to abstract meanings like bringing up a matter in conversation and guarding against danger.

The reading dī is specifically preserved in restricted colloquial compounds like 提防 (dīfang).

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

đề

Mandarin tone 1 maps to high level or related register in borrowings.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: テイ / Kun: さ.げる

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

제

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to HOLD up a banner that proclaims 'THIS IS (是) it!' as you CARRY it around.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

提

títo liftStandard common reading (rising tone).

堤

dīdike, embankmentUses earth radical (土) instead of hand radical (扌).

隄

dīdikeUses mound radical (阝) for earthworks.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

堤(dī)

堤 has the earth radical (土) because an embankment is made of earth, whereas 提 has the hand radical (扌) because you carry things with your hand.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

出门在外，一定要[___]小偷。

Clue: dī fang

Common Learner Pitfall

Assuming 提 is always pronounced 'tí'. When used in specific colloquial compound words like 提防 (dīfang), it changes its pronunciation to the first tone (dī).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 提 pronounced as dī in 提防, what does it mean?

Production: How do you write the character for carrying or guarding against with the hand radical and phonetic 是?

提dīto carry or to guard against

Speed:

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