秩 (zhì) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

秩

zhì[zhi4]Tone 4

order, rank, salary

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · order, rank, salary

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (禾) narrow and compact, leaving ample horizontal space for the right component (失) so the character remains well-balanced and does not lean.

1. Meaning

order or orderliness

official's ranksalary according to rankdecade (period of ten years)

NounLiteraryBound morpheme#society#government#time

Sample Usage

秩序
zhìxù
order, sequence
井然有序
jǐngrán yǒuxù
in good order, methodical

2. Sound

/[ʈʂʐ̩˥˩]/Tone: 51

秩

zhìzhi4

`(51)

=zhì

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

zhi

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: j/dr retroflex sound

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. Tongue curled up. Tissue stays still.

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

Final Rhyme

i (-i*)

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: buzzing i sound after retroflex

Note: Written as 'i (-i*)', pronounced as rounded 'i' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'zh-' (jr) with final '-i' (rr/zz).

Common Learner Trap: Do NOT pronounce '-i' as 'ee' after zh-! Keep your tongue in the consonant position and buzz 'rr/zz'.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, identical to a sharp, authoritative command like 'NO!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial 'zh-' with the alveolar affricate 'j-' or dental 'z-'. Ensure your tongue curls back.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Make a sharp, decisive downward chopping motion with your hand, mirroring the 51 high-to-low pitch drop.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (禾) narrow and compact, leaving ample horizontal space for the right component (失) so the character remains well-balanced and does not lean.

4. Components

Radical 禾 · Cereal plant radical (Grain, cereal crops)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 禾 (Denotes crops, harvest, or orderly arrangement in agricultural fields)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 失 (original sound: shi / zhi)

The cereal plant (禾) meets loss/arrangement (失), symbolizing how harvested grain must be neatly stacked and measured in strict order.

禾 Grain / Cereal plant
失 Loss / Error indicator providing sound and structure

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

11· Phonetic Root: 失 (shī)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined 禾 (grain) and 失 to represent the orderly distribution and ranking of grain rations and official salaries in ancient granaries.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from literal grain allocation and official salaries to general rules, ranks, and 'order' (as seen in 秩序).

In ancient China, official salaries were often paid directly in grain rations, linking rank directly to agricultural harvest units.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: チツ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

질

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

At the royal grain storehouse, the stacks of cereal grain (禾) must not slip or cause loss (失); every single stalk is organized in strict rank and order (秩).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

失

shīto losePhonetic Core (声旁)

铁

tiěiron+ 钅 (metal)

迭

diéalternately; repeatedly+ 辶 (walking)

帙

zhìsurname Zhi; book cover+ 巾 (cloth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

失(shī)

失 lacks the cereal radical 禾 on the left and means 'to lose'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们在公共场合应该维护良好的社会[___]。

Clue: zhì

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting that 秩 is typically bound in compound words like 秩序 (zhìxù) and rarely used completely alone in modern spoken Mandarin.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What is the meaning and pronunciation of 秩 when seen in the word 秩序 (zhìxù)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'order/rank' (zhì) which contains the grain radical 禾?

秩zhìorder, rank, salary

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