Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (穴) must crown the bottom worker component (工) gracefully, leaving enough room underneath without making the character look top-heavy.
1. Meaning
empty, hollow, vacant
skyair, atmospherein vain, to no avail
Adjective / Noun / VerbNeutral#space#nature#abstract state
Sample Usage
这个房间是空的。
Zhège fángjiān shì kōng de.
This room is empty.
蓝蓝的天空上没有云。
Lánlán de tiānkōng shàng méiyǒu yún.
There are no clouds in the blue sky.
2. Sound
/[kʰʊŋ˥˥]/Tone: 55
空
kōngkong1
|
++
¯(55)
=kōng
Initial Consonant
k
Type: Aspirated Velar
Sounds like: k sound as in 'key'
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, releasing a strong puff of air.
Final Rhyme
ong
Vowel Group: -o vowel group
Sounds like: -ong rhymes with rung
Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'h-' (h) with final '-ong' (oong).
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 high and level (55), matching a flat, unchanging musical tone.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the first tone high flat pitch (kōng) with the fourth tone falling pitch (kòng, meaning free time or to leave blank).
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a high, flat musical note, like holding a steady high pitch on a piano or singing a sustained note at the top of your vocal range. Make a flat horizontal hand gesture.
3. Writing
Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 8 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The top roof component (穴) must crown the bottom worker component (工) gracefully, leaving enough room underneath without making the character look top-heavy.
4. Components
Radical穴 · Cave radical (cave, hole, pit)
Semantic Clue (形旁):穴 (denotes a cave, space, or hollow opening)
A cave (穴) where work or crafting happens (工), leaving a vast, hollow open space inside.
穴 cave or hole roof
工 labor or construction base
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
24· Phonetic Root: 工 (gōng)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combining the cave/hole sign (穴) with a phonetic element (工), depicting a hollow or open space within a cave.
Semantic Evolution: From a physical cave opening or hollow space to general emptiness, the open sky (sky-cave), and doing things in vain (emptily).
The association of 'sky' with 'empty space' reflects ancient cosmological views of the boundless heavens as vast empty air.
6. Sinosphere
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: コウ (kō) / Kun: sora, aku, akeru
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
공
Sound Shift Bridge: Mandarin kōng shares roots with East Asian Buddhist philosophical terms translated as 'emptiness' (Sanskrit: śūnyatā).
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine looking up into a cave (穴) where construction workers (工) finished hollowing out all the rock, leaving the whole cavern completely EMPTY and open to the SKY.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
控
kòngto control, accuseReplaces the bottom worker component with hand (扌), meaning to manage or pull strings.
腔
qiāngbody cavity, tuneAdds flesh/meat (月) on the left, referring to internal body cavities.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
控(kòng)
控 has the hand radical (扌) on the left meaning to control, whereas 空 has the cave roof (穴) on top meaning empty.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
这个箱子是[___]的，里面什么也没有。
Clue: kōng
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the first tone kōng (empty/sky) with the fourth tone kòng (free time / to leave blank), or writing the roof component incorrectly.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the cave roof over the worker component (空), what does it mean and how is it read in Tone 1?
Production: How do you write the character for 'empty' or 'sky' (kōng) combining the cave radical and the worker component?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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空kōngempty, sky, air
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