砍 (kǎn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

砍

kǎn[kan3]Tone 3

to chop, to cut down

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to chop, to cut down

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (石) is compressed to take up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (欠) two-thirds of the space so the character remains balanced.

1. Meaning

to chop or cut with an axe or blade

to hewto hackto throw an object at someone

VerbNeutral#actions#tools#violence and combat

Sample Usage

他用斧头砍树。
Tā yòng fǔtóu kǎn shù.
He uses an axe to chop down the tree.
不要砍价太狠。
Bù yào kǎnjià tài hěn.
Do not bargain (chop down the price) too aggressively.

2. Sound

/[kʰän²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

砍

kǎnkan3

ˇ(214)

=kǎn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

kan

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

Type: Aspirated Velar

Sounds like: k sound as in 'kite'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong gust of air from throat! Tissue held in front MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue touches the soft palate, then releases a strong burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'run' or 'calm' depending on region, standard Mandarin central open vowel ending in alveolar n.

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

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

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low like a hesitant 'well?' in English, dipping down and rising back up.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, kǎn changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35) natively.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the aspirated initial 'k-' with the unaspirated 'g-' sound (gǎn).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start medium-high, dip low down to your chest, and sweep back up into the air, tracing a checkmark shape with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 5 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (石) is compressed to take up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (欠) two-thirds of the space so the character remains balanced.

4. Components

Radical 石 · Stone radical (stone, rock)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 石 (Indicates that the action is done to or with something hard like stone or an axe made of stone.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 欠 (original sound: kan / kian sound clue providing the pronunciation element.)

A stone tool (石) is swung by a person yawning/bending over (欠) to hack away at something.

石 Stone or hard surface / tool
欠 Deficit, lacking, or breath/yawn component acting phonetically

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

16· Phonetic Root: 欠 (qiàn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 石 (stone) representing hard material and tools, and 欠 (originally depicting a person with an open mouth or leaning), forming a compound indicating striking or chopping.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to chopping stone or hard objects, it broadened to mean chopping or cutting anything with a blade, and later extended to metaphorical actions like bargaining (砍价).

The stone radical reflects ancient times when axes and cutting tools were made of stone before the Bronze and Iron Ages.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take a heavy STONE axe (石) and CHOP down a tree while making an exhausted YAWN (欠) because it is hard work.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

欠

qiànto owe / to lack / yawnPhonetic Core (声旁)

吹

chuīto blow+ 口 (mouth)

软

ruǎnvariant of 軟|软[ruan3]+ 车 (car)

饮

yǐnto drink+ 饣 (food)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

坎(kǎn)

砍 has 石 (stone/axe) on the left because you chop with a tool; 坎 has 土 (earth) on the left because it means a hole or pit in the ground.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

伐木工人正在用斧头___树木。

Clue: kǎn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical 石 (stone) with 木 (wood) or mixing up 砍 with 坎 due to identical pronunciation.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 砍 mean, and what are its two main components?

Production: How do you write 'to chop' (kǎn) using the stone radical and the phonetic component?

砍kǎnto chop, to cut down

Speed:

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