癌 (ái) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

癌

ái[ai2]Tone 2

cancer

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · cancer

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:17

Writing Balance Rule: The disease enclosure shell (疒) arches protectively over the phonetic element (喦/品) below, ensuring the character stays broad and stable.

1. Meaning

cancer

carcinomamalignant tumor

NounNeutral#medicine#disease#health

Sample Usage

他被诊断出患有肺癌。
Tā bèi zhěnduàn chū huàn yǒu fèi'ái.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer.
早期发现可以提高癌症的治愈率。
Zǎoqī fāxiàn kěyǐ tígāo áizhèng de zhìyù lǜ.
Early detection can improve the cure rate of cancer.

2. Sound

/[aɪ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

癌

áiai2

Vowel start++

´(35)

=ái

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Vowel start

Type: Vowel start

Sounds like: Vowel start

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Starts directly on the vowel sound without consonant obstruction.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue is flat and low in the mouth, relaxed for the open vowel.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'eye' or the 'i' in 'high'

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

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 rises just like asking 'What?' in English when you didn't hear someone clearly.

👂

Listening trap: Learners often mistake Tone 2 (rising 35) for Tone 4 (falling 51), turning 'ái' into a sharp command.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a mid pitch and sweep your hand sharply upward and to the right, matching Tone 2.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 17 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The disease enclosure shell (疒) arches protectively over the phonetic element (喦/品) below, ensuring the character stays broad and stable.

4. Components

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

Semantic Clue (形旁): 疒 (indicates that the character relates to a disease or medical condition)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 喦 (original sound: ái)

The sickness radical (疒) frames a mountain of rock layers (喦, representing multiple mouths or piled-up rocky growth), symbolizing a stubborn, rock-hard malignant growth inside the body.

疒 sickness or disease indicator
喦 phonetic and imagery clue representing rocky, chaotic accumulation

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 嵒

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally, the character 喦 (piled rocks) provided the sound, combined with the sickness radical 疒 to denote a hard, tumorous disease likened to jagged rocks.

Semantic Evolution: In ancient times, terms for severe ulcers and tumors evolved into the modern medical standard for cancer (癌).

The character reflects ancient observations of hard, rock-like tumors that felt like stones under the skin.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ガン (gan)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine being sick in bed under the **sickness radical (疒)** while trying to climb a steep **mountain of rocks (喦)**—a harsh battle against **cancer (ái)**.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

嵒

Phonetic Core (声旁)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

挨(ái)

挨 has the hand radical (扌) for physical contact or enduring, whereas 癌 has the sickness radical (疒) for medical illness.

矮(ǎi)

矮 uses the arrow radical (矢) and means short in height, while 癌 uses the sickness radical (疒).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

医学界一直在努力寻找攻克[___]的方法。

Clue: ái

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the complex sickness enclosure (疒) or miswriting the internal parts due to the high stroke count (17 strokes).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the sickness radical (疒) combined with 'ái' represent?

Production: How do you write the 17-stroke word for 'cancer'?

癌áicancer

Speed:

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