疼 (téng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

疼

téng[teng2]Tone 2

hurts / sore / to love dearly

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · hurts / sore / to love dearly

Cached lesson

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Topology:semi-enclosure (left-upper enclosure)

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The enclosing sickness radical (疒) forms a protective roof and left wall, while the interior component (冬) must be neatly nested underneath without breaking past the bottom stroke limits.

1. Meaning

to hurt, to be sore

to love dearly, to be fond of (often used for children or younger family members)

Adjective / VerbNeutral#sensory#emotions#health

Sample Usage

我的头很疼。
Wǒ de tóu hěn téng.
My head hurts a lot.
妈妈很疼爱她的孩子。
Māma hěn téng'ài tā de háizi.
Mom loves her child dearly.

2. Sound

/[tʰɤŋ³⁵]/Tone: 35

疼

téngteng2

´(35)

=téng

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t sound as in English 'top'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing a burst of air.

Final Rhyme

eng

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -eng rhymes with rung or sung

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

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 register and rises sharply to the top, matching an incredulous rising question in English.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, the first syllable shifts to a mid-rising tone (approx. 35).

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with 'tēng' (Tone 1) or 'těng' (Tone 3); ensure the pitch clearly climbs upward.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 rises from mid to high, like asking a surprised question in English: 'Huh?' or 'What?'

3. Writing

Topology: semi-enclosure (left-upper enclosure) · Strokes: 10 strokes

4. Components

Radical 疒 · Sickness radical (illness, disease, bodily ailments)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 疒 (Indicates physical ailments, pain, or sickness)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 冬 (original sound: dōng / téng)

A person under a shelter (疒 sickness/bed enclosure) during the freezing winter (冬 winter) feels their body ache and hurt from the cold.

疒 sickness or bed enclosure (semantic clue for pain)
冬 winter (phonetic and contextual hint)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 冬 (dōng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the sickness signifier (疒) representing bed confinement or disease and the phonetic element 冬 (dōng), which later shifted in sound to téng to signify physical suffering.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting acute physical pain or disease, the meaning expanded metaphorically to emotional suffering ('heartache') and affectionate doting ('cherishing deeply' /疼爱).

The extension from physical pain to deep parental love stems from the idea of feeling physical anguish when a child is hurt.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: トウ / Kun: いた.む, いた.める

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

통

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

In the middle of winter (冬), lying sick in bed under the sickness enclosure (疒), every bone in your body aches and hurts (téng) so much that you cry out in pain.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

冬

dōngwinterBase phonetic component without the sickness radical.

终

zhōngendReplaces sickness radical with the silk thread radical (纟).

咚

dōngthud, boomAdds mouth radical (口) on the left for sound effects.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

疼(téng)

Contains 冬 inside the sickness enclosure (疒).

痛(tòng)

Uses the water radical (氵) on the left instead of the sickness radical (疒), often used for acute or deep physical pain.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我的肚子很[___]，可能是吃坏了东西。

Clue: téng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing '疼' (téng) with '痛' (tòng). While both mean pain, '疼' is frequently used for general soreness, headaches, or in the affectionate compound '疼爱' (to dote on), whereas '痛' often emphasizes sharper or more severe bodily pain.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does '疼' mean when you see it paired with '头' (head)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'hurts / sore' using the sickness radical and winter component?

疼ténghurts / sore / to love dearly

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