撞 (zhuàng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

撞

zhuàng[zhuang4]Tone 4

to bump into

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · to bump into

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample space for the complex right-side phonetic component (童).

1. Meaning

to knock against, bump into, or collide with someone or something

to run into someone unexpectedlyto take a chance or try one's luck

VerbNeutral#motion#impact#accidents

Sample Usage

走路要小心，别撞到树了。
zǒu lù yào xiǎoxīn, bié zhuàng dào shù le.
Walk carefully and don't bump into the tree.
我今天出门碰巧撞见了一个老朋友。
wǒ jīntiān chūmén pèngqiǎo zhuàng jiàn le yí gè lǎo péngyǒu.
I happened to run into an old friend when I went out today.

2. Sound

/[tʂʊ̯ɑŋ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

撞

zhuàngzhuang4

`(51)

=zhuàng

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: j/dr retroflex sound

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. Tongue curled up. Tissue stays still.

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

Final Rhyme

uang

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: wong sound with an 'ah' core vowel

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

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 sharply down, just like expressing a sudden exclamation of surprise or anger like 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial zh with the dental affricate j or alveolar z, leading to mispronunciations like zuàng.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, definitive chop downward with your hand, mirroring an accidental collision.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample space for the complex right-side phonetic component (童).

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand actions, touching, hitting, or physical movement)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates an action performed with the hand, arm, or a forceful physical impact)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 童 (original sound: tóng)

A forceful hand action (扌) colliding with a child or youth symbol (童), representing bumping into someone or crashing forcefully.

扌 Hand / physical impact
童 Phonetic clue providing the sound foundation

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 童 (tóng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and 童 (tóng) providing the phonetic sound and a general sense of upright presence.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting striking or beating with the hand, it broadened to mean any accidental or forceful physical collision, and further to running into someone by chance.

The right-side component 童 originally depicted a standing person or a servant, later phoneticized in multiple compound characters.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your hand/body (扌) to crash into a child (童) while running down the hallway, resulting in an accidental bump (zhuàng).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

童

tóngchild, childrenBase phonetic component without the hand radical.

钟

zhōngclock, bellUses the metal radical (钅) instead of the hand radical.

瞳

tóngpupil of the eyeUses the eye radical (目) referring to the eye.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

装(zhuāng)

Has clothing/attire (衣) at the bottom instead of the hand radical (扌), meaning to pack, install, or pretend.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

小心点！别把路边的人给[___]到了。

Clue: zhuàng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the spelling with zhuāng (装) or using the wrong tone (such as pronouncing it as tone 1 or 2 instead of the sharp falling tone 4).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 撞, what English meanings and Pinyin come to mind?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to bump into' (zhuàng) and what is its radical?

撞zhuàngto bump into

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