物 (wù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

物

wù[wu4]Tone 4

thing, object, matter

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · thing, object, matter

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (牛) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (勿) provides balance with its sweeping diagonal hook stroke extending downward to the right.

1. Meaning

thing or object

the outside world as distinct from oneselfpeople other than oneself

NounNeutralBound morpheme#objects#nature#society

Sample Usage

动物
dòngwù
animal
购物
gòuwù
shopping

2. Sound

/[wu˥˩]/Tone: 51

物

wùwu4

`(51)

=wù

Initial Consonant

Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: w sounds like the English 'w' in 'water'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded and protruded, back of tongue raised toward soft palate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: -u rhymes with the 'oo' sound in 'boot'

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply to the bottom, identical to a sharp, emphatic English command like 'No!' or 'Stop!'.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the 4th tone wù with the 2nd tone wú or 3rd tone wǔ due to not dropping the pitch sharply enough.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, authoritative chop downward with your hand, mirroring the sharp falling pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (牛) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (勿) provides balance with its sweeping diagonal hook stroke extending downward to the right.

4. Components

Radical 牛 · Ox Radical (cow, ox)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 牛 (Indicates livestock, beasts of burden, and physical physical objects or creatures in early sacrifice and classification.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 勿 (original sound: wù)

An ox (牛) paired with a flashing prohibition sign or flag (勿) representing various distinct entities or creatures in the physical world.

牛 ox, animal
勿 not, do not (supplying the sound wù)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

8· Phonetic Root: 勿 (wù)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the ox radical (牛) representing livestock or wealth with 勿 as a phonetic indicator. Over time, it broadened from meaning sacrificial cattle or miscellaneous livestock to encompass all physical things, objects, and matters in the universe.

Semantic Evolution: From specific livestock/sacrificial animals to physical objects, and finally to abstract things, matters, and the external world.

In classical Chinese philosophy, 物 (wù) frequently contrasts with 我 (wǒ, the self), denoting the objective outside world.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ブツ / モツ / Kun: もの

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

물

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine an ox (牛) carrying all sorts of miscellaneous things (物) on its back while passing a sign that says 'Do Not (勿) overload!'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

勿

wùdo notBase phonetic component without the ox radical.

笏

hùcourt tabletAdds the bamboo radical (⺮) on top for a ceremonial wooden tablet.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

勿(wù)

勿 lacks the ox (牛) radical on the left and means 'do not'.

找(zhǎo)

找 has the hand radical (扌) on the left instead of an ox, meaning 'to look for'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

买完东西回家后，他把所有的购[___]都拆开了。

Clue: wù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the right-side component 勿 with similar looking shapes like 鸟 or 易, leading to incorrect stroke orders.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 物, what tone and primary English meaning come to mind?

Production: How do you write the character for 'thing/object' (wù) which features an ox radical on the left?

物wùthing, object, matter

Speed:

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