撲 (pū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

撲

pū[pu1]Tone 1

to pounce on, to flap, to throw oneself at

HSK 6

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扑

Guru Deep Dive

English · to pounce on, to flap, to throw oneself at

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (fēng, the hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right side (bǔ).

Simplification Logic: The traditional form '撲' uses the full traditional hand radical (扌) and right component (菐). In the simplified form '扑', the left side uses the standard 3-stroke hand radical (扌), and the right side is simplified to '卜'.

1. Meaning

to pounce on, to throw oneself at, to flutter

to devote one's energiesto flap (wings)to dab or pat

VerbNeutral#action#movement#physical exertion

Sample Usage

小猫向老鼠扑过去。
Xiǎo māo xiàng lǎoshǔ pū guòqù.
The kitten pounced on the mouse.
他把全部精力扑在工作上。
Tā bǎ quánbù jīnglì pū zài gōngzuò shàng.
He devoted all his energy to his work.

2. Sound

/[pʰu⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

撲

pūpu1

¯(55)

=pū

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound in English 'pat'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together firmly, releasing a strong burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound in English 'boot' or 'u' in 'put'

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

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 stays flat and high at the ceiling of your speaking pitch, similar to a sustained musical note or a robotic monotone.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the strongly aspirated initial 'p-' with an unaspirated 'b-'. If it sounds like 'bu', it is incorrect.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat line drawn steadily across the very top of your vocal range, like a high-pitched musical note held firmly without wavering.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 5 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (fēng, the hand radical) should be compact and narrower, leaving ample breathing room for the right side (bǔ).

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand action, touching, or striking)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (indicates an action performed with the hand or body movement)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 卜 (original sound: pū)

A hand (扌) reaches out forcefully to divine or strike down like a fortune-telling stick (卜), representing a sudden pounce or thrust.

扌 Hand action
卜 Phonetic clue and shape reference

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

10· Phonetic Root: 菐 (pú)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) denoting physical action and (卜) providing the sound and a sense of a straight, sudden striking motion.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meaning to strike or beat, it broadened to include flapping wings, throwing oneself forward, and eagerly devoting energy to a task.

In classical texts, it frequently appeared as a verb describing sudden physical assaults or hunting actions.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ホク (hoku), ハク (haku) / Kun: u.tsu

Sound Shift Bridge: Mandarin initial 'p-' corresponds to Germanic 'p/f' sound shifts in European languages.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine using your HAND (扌) to POUND down on a divining oracle BONE (卜) with a loud 'POO!' sound as you pounce on the table.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

朴

pǔsimple, rusticReplaces the hand radical with the tree radical (木), meaning timber that is uncarved and simple.

补

bǔto mend, to repairUses the garment/spirit radical (衤), relating to patching clothes.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

朴(pǔ)

扑 has the hand radical (扌) for physical action/pouncing, whereas 朴 has the wood radical (木) for natural wood/simplicity.

扑(bǔ)

Note the subtle component variation and tone difference when looking at related lookalikes.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

獵豹向羚羊___了過去。

Clue: pū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone (Tone 1 high flat pū) with Tone 4 (pù) or mixing up the radical with wood (木) instead of hand (扌).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 扑 mean when you see it combined with a hand radical and the sound pū?

Production: How do you write and pronounce the verb meaning 'to pounce on' or 'to throw oneself at' with a high flat tone?

撲pūto pounce on, to flap, to throw oneself at

Speed:

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