攪 (jiǎo) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

攪

jiǎo[jiao3]Tone 3

to stir, mix, disturb

HSK 7

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搅

Guru Deep Dive

English · to stir, mix, disturb

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be compact and lean slightly forward, while the right phonetic component (觉) occupies the wider right side.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 攪 uses 覺 on the right, which was simplified to 觉.

1. Meaning

to stir or mix liquids or substances

to disturb or agitate someoneto annoy or disrupt

VerbNeutral#actions#kitchen#emotions

Sample Usage

请把咖啡搅拌匀。
Qǐng bǎ kāfēi jiǎobàn yún.
Please stir the coffee evenly.
别去打搅他。
Bié qù dǎjiǎo tā.
Don't go disturb him.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

攪

jiǎojiao3

ˇ(214)

=jiǎo

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

jiao

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: soft j sound as in 'jeep' (without the d3 rumble)

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches or comes close to the hard palate, teeth close together.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'meow' or 'ow' with an i- glide

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: Contains an intervening 'i' glide before the 'ao' diphthong.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises, similar to a disbelieving English question like 'Really?'

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, jiǎo changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35), becoming jiáo.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the 3rd tone dip with the 4th tone drop, or mishearing the initial 'j-' as a 'zh-' sound.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from medium height to low, then sweep sharply upward.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) should be compact and lean slightly forward, while the right phonetic component (觉) occupies the wider right side.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 攪 uses 覺 on the right, which was simplified to 觉.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (hand, action done with hands)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates actions performed with the hand, such as stirring.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 觉 (original sound: jiào / jué)

A hand (扌) reaches in to wake up or stir things around (觉).

扌 hand action
觉 phonetic and conceptual clue for stirring/awareness

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 覺

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and 觉 providing the pronunciation and a sense of agitation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to stirring liquids with a tool or hand, later broadened to abstract concepts like disturbing peace or causing trouble.

Often used in compound words relating to kitchen preparation or social disruption.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to STIR a pot of soup so intensely that it WAKES UP (觉) the ingredients!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

覺

Phonetic Core (声旁)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

觉(jué)

觉 lacks the hand radical (扌) on the left side.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

做湯的時候需要不停地[___]。

Clue: jiǎo

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the hand radical (扌) and mistakenly writing the base character 觉 alone.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 搅, what action does the hand radical and phonetic part combine to mean?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to stir' (jiǎo) using the hand radical?

攪jiǎoto stir, mix, disturb

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