秽 (huì) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

秽

huì[hui4]Tone 4

dirty; filthy

HSK 7

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穢

Guru Deep Dive

English · dirty; filthy

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (禾) should be narrower and slightly elevated, leaving ample room for the complex right component (岁).

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 穢 uses 穀 on the right, which was simplified to 岁 in the modern character 秽.

1. Meaning

dirty; filthy

impurefoulcorruption

AdjectiveLiteraryBound morpheme#morality#cleanliness#abstract qualities

Sample Usage

污秽
wū huì
filthy; foul; dirty
自惭形秽
zì cán xíng huì
to feel inferior or unworthy (idiom)

2. Sound

/[xweɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

秽

huìhui4

`(51)

=huì

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

hui

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per the side-by-side rule (in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound like in hat

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue approaches the soft palate to create friction, with vocal cords open.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: way sound

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply to the bottom, just like expressing a firm command or sudden realization in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the diphthong -ui (pronounced -uei) with simple -i or -u finals. Do not drop the middle 'u' glide.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 drops like a falling axe from high to low, mirroring an emphatic 'No!' or a sharp downward chop with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (禾) should be narrower and slightly elevated, leaving ample room for the complex right component (岁).

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 穢 uses 穀 on the right, which was simplified to 岁 in the modern character 秽.

4. Components

Radical 禾 · Cereal plant radical (grain, cereal, plant)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 禾 (indicates agriculture, grain, or organic matter)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 岁 (original sound: suì)

A heap of harvested grain (禾) that has aged, spoiled, or withered away over the years (岁), turning into foul, dirty waste.

禾 grain or plant
岁 years or age

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 岁 (suì)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 禾 (grain) representing crops and 岁 (years) providing the sound and an element of time passing, denoting crops that have rotted or spoiled over time.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to spoiled or withered grain, later broadening to mean anything dirty, impure, or morally corrupt.

Often appears in classical Chinese texts regarding ritual purity and moral corruption.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

uế

The entering/sharp tone corresponds well with the Vietnamese sắc or nặng tone contours.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: エ (e) / Kun: けがす (kegasu)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

예

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine checking your leftover harvested grain (禾) after many years (岁)—it has gone completely bad, moldy, and filthy (huì).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

岁

suìvariant of 歲|岁[sui4], year; years oldPhonetic Core (声旁)

刿

guìcut; injure+ 刂 (knife)

哕

huìused in 噦噦|哕哕[hui4 hui4]+ 口 (mouth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

岁(suì)

岁 means years and lacks the left-hand grain (禾) radical found in 秽.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这座古建筑里面堆满了垃圾和[___]物。

Clue: huì

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the right side (岁) with unrelated components or writing the grain radical (禾) incorrectly on the left.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 秽, what is its literary meaning and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'filthy/dirty' (bound literary form huì)?

秽huìdirty; filthy

Speed:

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