牡 (mǔ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

牡

mǔ[mu3]Tone 3

male (of animals or plants)

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · male (of animals or plants)

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (牛) should be slightly compressed to make room for the right component (土), keeping the overall width balanced and square.

1. Meaning

male (specifically applied to animals, birds, or plants)

key or lock mechanism parthills or mountainous terrain

Adjective / NounFormal / LiteraryBound morpheme#biology#nature#gender

Sample Usage

牡鹿
mǔ lù
stag (male deer)
牡丹
mǔ dān
peony

2. Sound

/[mu²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

牡

mǔmu3

ˇ(214)

=mǔ

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

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

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 gently, air passing through the nose.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: -oo sound as in boot or moo

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

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 dips low in pitch like a hesitant 'well...', requiring a drop and slight recovery.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, mǔ changes to a 2nd tone (35).

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the dipping 3rd tone with the rising 2nd tone, leading native speakers to hear 'mú' instead of 'mǔ'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down sharply from chin level and sweep up to shoulder height.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (牛) should be slightly compressed to make room for the right component (土), keeping the overall width balanced and square.

4. Components

Radical 牛 · Ox Radical (ox, cow, cattle)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 牛 (indicates animal classification)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 土 (original sound: tu)

A male ox (牛) standing firmly on the earth/soil (土).

牛 Ox, denoting large livestock animals
土 Earth, serving as the phonetic and structural anchor

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

10· Phonetic Root: 土 (tǔ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the ox radical (牛) representing large livestock and a phonetic element (土) suggesting the sound 'mu'.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to male cattle or livestock, later generalized to describe male animals, birds, and certain plant species.

In classical texts, 牡 is frequently contrasted with 牝 (pìn) for female animals.
It appears prominently in botanical names like 牡丹 (peony).

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ボ / Kun: おす

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

모

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A strong male BULL (牛) plants its hooves into the EARTH (土) to show it is the undisputed master.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

土

tǔearthPhonetic Core (声旁)

肚

dǔtripe+ ⺼ (meat)

吐

tǔto spit+ 口 (mouth)

墅

shùvilla+ 野 (country)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

母(mǔ)

母 means mother (female), whereas 牡 contains 牛 (ox) indicating a male animal.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这只[___]鹿的角非常雄伟。

Clue: mǔ

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 牡 (male animal) with 母 (mother), since both share the exact same Pinyin 'mǔ'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 牡 mean when attached to animal names?

Production: How do you write the character for 'male (animal)' using the ox radical?

牡mǔmale (of animals or plants)

Speed:

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