Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (王/玉) is narrower and compressed to make room for the right phonetic component (攸), keeping the overall square balanced.
1. Meaning
rose (when paired with 瑰 in 玫瑰) or fine jade (archaic/literary sense)
precious stonegem
NounNeutral in compound, literary aloneBound morpheme#plants#flowers#minerals#nature
Sample Usage
玫瑰
méiguī
rose
玫瑰花
méiguīhuā
rose flower
2. Sound
/[meɪ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35
玫
méimei2
|
++
´(35)
=méi
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
mei
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
m
Type: Bilabial Nasal
Sounds like: m sound as in 'moon'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips gently pressed together for m, then relaxing into the vowel.
Final Rhyme
ei
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'ay' in 'day'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ay'.
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 starts in the middle pitch and rises sharply to the top, exactly like a surprised question in English such as 'What?' or 'Huh?'
Sandhi: When followed by a neutral tone in 玫瑰 (méigui), méi remains a full rising Tone 2, while gui becomes a neutral tone.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (méi) with Tone 4 (mèi) or Tone 3 (měi). Pay attention to the upward pitch trajectory.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture moving upward from left to right, like raising your eyebrows when asking 'Really?'
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (王/玉) is narrower and compressed to make room for the right phonetic component (攸), keeping the overall square balanced.
4. Components
Radical王 · Jade Radical (when on left written as ⽟) (Jade, precious stones, minerals)
Semantic Clue (形旁):王 (Indicates that the character relates to jade, stones, or precious materials.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):攸 (original sound: yóu / méi)
A precious jade (王) shaped or polished in a certain flowing way (攸) to create something as lovely as a gem or a rose.
王 Jade radical on the left
攸 Phonetic component on the right
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
4· Phonetic Root: 攵 (pū)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally referred to a type of fine, beautiful jade. Over time, it was borrowed to phoneticize foreign loan words or paired with 瑰 to denote the rose flower (玫瑰).
Semantic Evolution: From 'fine jade' to part of the compound word for 'rose' (玫瑰), where it lost its standalone jade meaning in everyday modern speech.
In classical literature, 玫瑰 originally meant a kind of exquisite red jade before coming to represent the flower.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
môi
Mandarin rising tone 2 corresponds roughly to Vietnamese hỏi or sắc depending on historical derivation, here read as môi.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: マイ
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
매
Sound Shift Bridge: The phonetic element 攸 shares roots with similar phonetic series in ancient Chinese.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine a brilliant, precious JADE (王) flower glistening with morning dew. Because a rose is the jewel of the garden, this 'jade' flower is none other than the magnificent rose (玫瑰).
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
攵
pūvariant of 攴[pu1]Phonetic Core (声旁)
敦
dūnkindhearted+ 享 (share)
枚
méiclassifier for small or flat objects, surname+ 木 (tree)