畜 (chù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

畜

chù[chu4]Tone 4

livestock

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · livestock

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (玄) should be compressed slightly to make room for the bottom field/enclosure component (田), keeping the entire character stable and centered.

1. Meaning

livestock, domesticated animals

raise or rear animalsbeasts

Noun / VerbFormal / Literary#animals#agriculture#rural life

Sample Usage

农村家里养了许多牲畜。
nóngcūn jiālǐ yǎngle xǔduō shēngchù.
The rural family raises a lot of livestock.
畜牧业是该地区的重要经济支柱。
chùmùyè shì gāi dìqū de zhòngyào jīngjì zhīzhù.
Animal husbandry is an important economic pillar of the region.

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰu⁵¹]/Tone: 51

畜

chùchu4

`(51)

=chù

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

chu

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: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: retroflex 'ch' sound like 'dr' or 'j' with an aspirated puff of air

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as 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 straight down, exactly like shouting a sudden 'No!' or giving a sharp command.

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with Tone 1 or Tone 2 by beginners who fail to drop the pitch sharply at the end.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, commanding chop downward with your hand, mirroring the plunging pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (玄) should be compressed slightly to make room for the bottom field/enclosure component (田), keeping the entire character stable and centered.

4. Components

Radical 田 · Field Radical (farmland, fields)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 田 (indicates agricultural lands where animals graze)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 畜 (original sound: chu)

A mysterious canopy or overhead structure (玄) covering cultivated fields (田) where domestic animals are kept safe and raised.

玄 black, profound, roof-like canopy
田 farmland, fields

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 畜 (chù)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted animals penned or raised near fields under a shelter, combining ideas of enclosure and agriculture.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from general animal raising to specifically mean livestock or domestic animals, and later extended to animal husbandry industries.

In ancient agrarian societies, livestock was a primary measure of family wealth and agricultural productivity.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: チク

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

축

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Under a dark, mysterious roof canopy (玄), out in the open farmland (田), valuable LIVESTOCK (畜) like cows and sheep are sheltered and raised.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

蓄

xùto store up, grow, entertain+ 艹 (plants)

搐

chùto twitch; to have a spasm+ 扌 (hand)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

蓄(xù)

蓄 has the grass radical (艹) at the top for storing plants/reserves, whereas 畜 has the profound/roof top (玄).

搐(chù)

搐 adds the hand radical (扌) on the left, referring to twitching or spasms of the limbs.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这个农场主要以养殖牲[___]为生。

Clue: chù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 畜 (chù - livestock) with 蓄 (xù - to store) due to their identical phonetic body.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 畜 mean when seen in 牲畜?

Production: How do you write the character for 'livestock' (chù) using components like 玄 and 田?

畜chùlivestock

Speed:

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