揪 (jiū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

揪

jiū[jiu1]Tone 1

to seize, clutch, or grab firmly and pull

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to seize, clutch, or grab firmly and pull

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (Hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right phonetic component (qiū) to maintain structural equilibrium.

1. Meaning

to grab firmly and pull

to clutch tightlyto seize by force (such as hair or clothing)

VerbNeutral#physical action#hand gestures#conflict

Sample Usage

他揪住我的衣领。
tā jiū zhù wǒ de yī lǐng.
He grabbed me firmly by the collar.
心里总觉得有什么事情被揪住了似的。
xīn lǐ zǒng jué de yǒu shén me shì qing bèi jiū zhù le shì de.
It felt as if my heart was being clutched and gripped tightly.

2. Sound

/[tɕi̯ou̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

揪

jiūjiu1

¯(55)

=jiū

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

jiu

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j sound like the soft 'j' in jeep but articulated with the blade of the tongue against the lower teeth

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Front of the tongue touches the back of the lower front teeth

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -iu rhymes with 'ee-oh' or the 'you' sound

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: iu is an abbreviation of iou, with the middle 'o' suppressed in pronunciation.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is flat and sustained at the highest normal speaking pitch, much like a musical note held steady.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex 'zh' sounds with the alveolar 'j' sound. Make sure to keep the tongue blade flat against the lower teeth instead of curling it back.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A steady, flat horizontal line drawn high in the air, matching the high level pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (Hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right phonetic component (qiū) to maintain structural equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand actions, physical grabbing or hitting)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (indicates that the action is performed using the hand)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 秋 (original sound: qiū)

A hand (扌) reaches out during autumn (秋) to tightly seize or pluck the ripening harvest.

扌 Hand action
秋 Phonetic clue providing the sound 'qiū/jiū'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

15· Phonetic Root: 秋 (qiū)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical engagement and the phonetic component (秋) which provided the approximate pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to plucking or pulling tightly with fingers, expanding to general acts of seizing, pulling hair, or emotional clutching.

The character bridges physical manual labor and direct interpersonal clashes where grabbing clothes or hair occurs.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to AUTUMN-PULL (秋) the leaves or grab someone firmly by the collar, 'jiū'ing them tightly.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

秋

qiūold variant of 秋[qiu1]Phonetic Core (声旁)

愁

chóuto worry about+ 心 (heart)

瞅

chǒuto look at+ 目 (eye)

啾

jiū(onom.) wailing of child; chirp+ 口 (mouth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

秋(qiū)

秋 means autumn and lacks the hand radical (扌) on the left side.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

警察一把[___]住了小偷的衣领。

Clue: jiū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the pinyin tone or initial with 'qiū' (autumn) due to the shared phonetic component.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 揪 mean and what is its primary component clue?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to seize or clutch firmly' using the hand radical and autumn component?

揪jiūto seize, clutch, or grab firmly and pull

Speed:

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