毛 (máo) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

毛

máo[mao2]Tone 2

hair, feather, fur, wool, tenth of a yuan (jiao), surname Mao

HSK 1

Guru Deep Dive

English · hair, feather, fur, wool, tenth of a yuan (jiao), surname Mao

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Topology:Single character

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: Write the horizontal strokes evenly spaced and let the final vertical hook stroke anchor the right side gracefully.

1. Meaning

Hair, fur, or feather

woolmildew or moldcoarse or raw (semifinished)careless or nervousone-tenth of a yuan (jiao / 10 fen)surname Mao

Noun / Classifier / Adjective / SurnameNeutral / Colloquial#biology#materials#currency#personality

Sample Usage

这件毛衣很暖和。
Zhè jiàn máo yī hěn nuǎnhuo.
This woolen sweater is very warm.
一毛钱也是钱。
Yī máo qián yě shì qián.
Even a dime (one-tenth of a yuan) is money.

2. Sound

/[mɑʊ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

毛

máomao2

´(35)

=máo

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound as in mother

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together lightly, air flowing through the nose.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ao rhymes with cow or now

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

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

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises like a question in English: 'What?' or 'Really?'

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, it changes to a 2nd tone.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with 'mào' (4th tone); ensure the pitch climbs rather than drops.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Raise your hand upward from left to right as if asking a surprised question 'Mow?'

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Write the horizontal strokes evenly spaced and let the final vertical hook stroke anchor the right side gracefully.

4. Components

Radical 毛 · Hair radical (Hair, fur, feather)

The character '毛' is a pictograph of a hairy creature, beast hide, or strands of hair waving in the wind.

丿 Top slanted stroke representing sweeping hair
horizontal and vertical lines Strands and body of fur or feathers

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 毛 (máo)

5. History

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: In Oracle Bone script, '毛' was drawn as curved lines depicting animal fur, feathers, or human hair growing out.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring strictly to animal fur or bird feathers, it expanded to mean plant fuzz, woolen textiles, fractional currency units (short for jiǎo), and even human personality traits like being rash or careless.

Chairman Mao Zedong made this surname globally famous in modern history.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: モウ / Kun: け

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

모

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a furry MONSTER (máo) covered in thick hair and feathers, holding a single COIN (one-tenth of a yuan) in its fuzzy paw.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

毫

háofine hair, millimeterAdded grass/water-like top element over mao, meaning a tiny fine hair.

髦

máostylish, superiorHas a top crown element, representing hair on top of the head.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

手(shǒu)

shǒu means hand and has a vertical hook in the middle, whereas máo has horizontal-dominant sweeping strokes for hair.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这件[___]衣穿起来很暖和。

Clue: máo

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone (máo vs mào) or writing it incorrectly by mixing up stroke order with '手'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 毛 mean when used as a currency term in spoken Chinese?

Production: How do you write the character for hair or wool (máo) with 4 strokes?

毛máohair, feather, fur, wool, tenth of a yuan (jiao), surname Mao

Speed:

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