擺 (bǎi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

擺

bǎi[bai3]Tone 3

to arrange

HSK 4

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摆

Guru Deep Dive

English · to arrange

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (扌) is narrower and higher, while the right side (罢) is wider and spans slightly lower to achieve balanced visual weight.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 擺 by simplifying the right-side phonetic component 罷.

1. Meaning

to arrange, display, or exhibit

to move to and fro, swing, or swayto put on an air or mannerpendulum

VerbNeutral#action#movement#position

Sample Usage

请把桌子摆好。
Qǐng bǎ zhuōzi bǎi hǎo.
Please arrange the table properly.
钟摆左右摆动。
Zhōngbǎi zuǒyòu bǎidòng.
The clock pendulum swings from side to side.

2. Sound

/[paɪ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

擺

bǎibai3

ˇ(214)

=bǎi

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: English b sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. A tissue in front of lips should stay still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together firmly, releasing softly with voice box vibration.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'pie'

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

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

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 starts mid-high, dips low into the chest, and rises up, much like saying 'What?' in disbelief.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, bǎi shifts to a 2nd tone (35), becoming báibǎi in rapid speech.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the low dipping Tone 3 with Tone 4, causing listeners to hear 'bài' instead of 'bǎi'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from your starting pitch and sweep upward to indicate Tone 3.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (扌) is narrower and higher, while the right side (罢) is wider and spans slightly lower to achieve balanced visual weight.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 擺 by simplifying the right-side phonetic component 罷.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand action or manual manipulation)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates actions performed with the hand, such as arranging or placing objects.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 罢 (original sound: bà)

A hand (扌) reaches out to organize and set up what is finished or stopped (罢), arranging items neatly in place.

扌 Hand action semantic indicator
罢 Phonetic clue and background meaning of completion/stopping

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 罷 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and 罢 (bà) providing the phonetic framework and a sense of setting things to rest.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to separate or disperse, it evolved into arranging items in order, displaying them, and describing swinging motions like a pendulum.

The traditional form 擺 has more complex strokes in the upper portion of the right component.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

With your hand (扌), you stop (罢) what you are doing in order to neatly arrange and exhibit your collection of artifacts.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

罢

bàto stop / ceaseWithout the hand radical, it means to stop or quit.

摆

bǎito arrange / swingUses the hand radical for physical placement actions.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

罢(bà)

Missing the left hand radical (扌).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

請把花瓶[___]在桌子上。

Clue: bǎi

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the left hand radical (扌) and writing only the right phonetic component '罢'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 摆, what does it mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to arrange or exhibit' with pinyin bǎi?

擺bǎito arrange

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