瘟 (wēn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

瘟

wēn[wen1]Tone 1

epidemic, pestilence, plague

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · epidemic, pestilence, plague

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the sickness radical 疒) forms a protective roof over the right side (皿), requiring balanced vertical proportions so the character does not lean to the right.

1. Meaning

epidemic, pestilence, plague

stupiddulllackluster (of a performance)

noun / adjectiveliterary / formalBound morpheme#medicine#illness#society

Sample Usage

瘟疫
wēnyì
pestilence, plague
瘟神
wēnshén
god of plague (figuratively: an obnoxious person)

2. Sound

/[wən⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

瘟

wēnwen1

¯(55)

=wēn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

wen

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

Type: Glide (w)

Sounds like: w sound as in water

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded, tongue relaxed in the bottom of the mouth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -en rhymes with 'en' in 'enamel'

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

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

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to holding a single high musical note without dipping or rising, like the 'ah' when a doctor checks your throat.

Sandhi: Maintains its high level tone unless affected by standard tone sandhi rules when followed by another 1st or 2nd tone in rapid speech.

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with wén (文/闻) due to identical vowel and consonant components; pay close attention to contextual semantic clues.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A flat, high horizontal line in the air, representing a steady, high musical note.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

4. Components

Radical 疒 · Sickness Radical (illness, disease, bed)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 疒 (indicates illness or pestilence)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 皿 (original sound: wēn / mǐn root family clues)

An illness (疒) spreading out of a vessel or container (皿), contaminating everything like a pestilence.

疒 sickness, disease
皿 vessel, dish (providing sound and shape)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

12· Phonetic Root: 昷

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the sickness signifier (疒) and a phonetic element related to a bowl or basin (皿), originally denoting contagious diseases or epidemics.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring strictly to plague or pestilence, the meaning expanded metaphorically to describe dull, lifeless, or unlucky situations and people.

Historically associated with the 'God of Plague' (瘟神), whom people would appease to prevent outbreaks.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: オン

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

온

Sound Shift Bridge: Shared East Asian cultural root character for epidemics.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A sickness (疒) spilled out of the communal serving bowl (皿) during the feast, instantly causing a widespread pestilence (wēn).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

昷

Phonetic Core (声旁)

温

wēnwarm+ 氵 (water)

媪

ǎoold woman+ 女 (woman)

愠

yùnindignant; feel hurt+ 忄 (heart)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

温(wēn)

温 has the water radical (氵) for temperature/warmth, whereas 瘟 has the sickness radical (疒) for epidemics.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

历史上，这场可怕的[___]夺去了数百万人的生命。

Clue: wēn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing it with 温 (warm) because they share the same pinyin and sound, forgetting that 瘟 has the sickness radical.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 瘟 with the sickness radical 疒, what primary concept does it denote?

Production: How do you write the character for 'pestilence/plague' (wēn) combining sickness and a dish?

瘟wēnepidemic, pestilence, plague

Speed:

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