汁 (zhī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

汁

zhī[zhi1]Tone 1

juice

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · juice

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (water) takes up about one-third of the width, while the right component takes up the remaining two-thirds, ensuring neither side overpowers the other.

1. Meaning

juice

liquid secreted by plant or animal tissuesauce or gravy

NounNeutral#food#liquids#nature

Sample Usage

果汁
guǒ zhī
fruit juice
肉汁
ròu zhī
gravy, meat juice

2. Sound

/[ʈʂʐ̩⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

汁

zhīzhi1

¯(55)

=zhī

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

i (-i*)

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ee sound after retroflex consonants

Note: Written as 'i (-i*)', pronounced as rounded 'i' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'zh-' (jr) with final '-i' (rr/zz).

Common Learner Trap: Do NOT pronounce '-i' as 'ee' after zh-! Keep your tongue in the consonant position and buzz 'rr/zz'.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch comparable to singing a single note high up in your speaking voice without any rise or fall.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with 'zhī' spelled with different initials like 'zī' or 'jī'. Make sure to keep your tongue curled back for the retroflex 'zh'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat musical note held steady at the top of your vocal range, like a drone.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 5 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (water) takes up about one-third of the width, while the right component takes up the remaining two-thirds, ensuring neither side overpowers the other.

4. Components

Radical 氵 · Water Radical (water, liquid)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 氵 (indicates that the character relates to liquids or juices)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 十 (original sound: shí / zhī phonetic borrowing indicating completeness or the right side phonetic cue)

Water (氵) combined with ten (十) representing a concentrated, full essence or squeezed liquid.

氵 water / liquid semantic indicator
十 ten / phonetic or structural anchor

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

8· Phonetic Root: 十 (shí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined the water radical (氵) to denote liquid and a phonetic element (十) to form the character for liquid extracts or juices.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred generally to liquids or sauces, narrowing down over time to mean juice from fruits, plants, or meats.

The water radical variant (氵) is always written on the left side of characters representing fluids.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

trấp

High checked tone corresponding to Mandarin Level tone.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ジュウ (jū) / シ (shi)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

즙

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take ten (十) juicy fruits and squeeze them until **water (氵)** pours out as fresh **juice (汁)**.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

针

zhēnneedleMetal radical (钅) + ten (十) = metal needle.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

针(zhēn)

汁 has the water radical (氵) for juice, while 针 has the metal radical (钅) for needle.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我每天早上都喝一杯新鲜的橙[___]。

Clue: zhī

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the water radical (氵) with the ice radical (冫) or mixing up the right-hand component with unrelated characters like 针.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 汁 mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the Chinese character for 'juice' (zhī)?

汁zhījuice

Speed:

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