HanziGuru.甥 · shēng
甥
shēng[sheng1]Tone 1

sister's son; nephew

Guru Deep Dive

English · sister's son; nephew

Cached lesson
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Topology:Left-right
Strokes:11
Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (女) slightly narrower to make room for the complex right component (生), ensuring the entire character maintains a balanced vertical centerline.
1. Meaning

sister's son or nephew

daughter's child in some historical or regional dialects, though primarily sister's offspring
NounFormal / LiteraryBound morpheme#family#kinship#relationships
Sample Usage
  • 外甥
    wài shēng
    nephew (sister's son)
  • 内甥
    nèi shēng
    nephew (wife's brother's son or sister's son depending on region)
2. Sound
/[ʂɤŋ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
甥
shēngsheng1
++
¯(55)
=shēng
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
sheng
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Say it like:“shr-uhng”Close approximationTone pitch cue:flat, high
Key difference: Mandarin sh is retroflex [ʂ] followed by nasal central schwa rhyme [əŋ].
Initial Consonant
sh
Type: Retroflex Fricative
Sounds like: sh sound with retroflex tongue curl
UnaspiratedRetroflex
Airflow Tactile Test: Hollow wind sound through curled tongue channel.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate
Final Rhyme
eng
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -eng rhymes with -ung in rung
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'uhng'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T1 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to a flat musical note sung at the top of your speaking range.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex 'sh-' with the dental/alveolar 's-' sound (mistaking shēng for sēng).
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat musical note held steady across the top of your vocal range, like a sustained singing note.
3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (女) slightly narrower to make room for the complex right component (生), ensuring the entire character maintains a balanced vertical centerline.

4. Components

Radical 女 · Female Radical (woman, female)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 女 (Indicates the maternal/female lineage relationship in kinship terms.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 生 (original sound: shēng)

The character combines the female radical (女) on the left with the phonetic and life-giving component 'birth/life' (生) on the right, representing a new life born from the female side of the family (a sister's child).

  • 女 female / woman semantic indicator
  • 生 shēng phonetic and meaning contributor (life / birth)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 女 (woman) for the maternal family line and 生 (to give birth / life) which also provides the pronunciation. It specifically designates offspring originating from female relatives.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to a sister's son in traditional Chinese kinship systems where strict patrilineal and matrilineal distinctions mattered greatly. Today it remains primarily bound in compound words like 外甥 (wàishēng).

  • In traditional Chinese society, distinguishing paternal versus maternal relatives was crucial for legal, social, and ritual obligations.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
sinh
Matches the high level or entering tones depending on historical phonetic development, cognate with the Sino-Vietnamese reading element.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: セイ (sei) / ショウ (shō)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
생
Sound Shift Bridge: The phonetic component 生 connects Mandarin shēng to various East Asian borrowings sharing the 'sei/shou/sinh' sound root.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

A WOMAN (女) celebrates the NEW LIFE (生) of her sister's newborn son, her beloved nephew.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
生
shēngto be born / life / rawPhonetic Core (声旁)
星
xīngstar+ 日 (sun)
姓
xìngfamily name; surname+ 女 (woman)
性
xìngnature+ 忄 (heart)
Explore this family →
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
姓(xìng)
姓 uses the person/woman-adjacent structure too, but means 'family name', whereas 甥 with 生 on the right specifically means nephew.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
他是我姐姐的儿子，也就是我的外[___]。
Clue: shēng
Common Learner Pitfall

Treating 甥 as an independent standalone word in modern conversational Mandarin, whereas it is almost always bound inside the compound 外甥 (wàishēng).

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 甥 paired with 外 in 外甥, what does it mean?
Production: How do you write the character for 'nephew/sister's son' using the female radical and the 'birth' component?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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