簸 (bǒ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

簸

bǒ[bo3]Tone 3

winnow, toss

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · winnow, toss

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the top bamboo component (竹) sits compactly and evenly across the upper half, leaving a solid and balanced foundation for the lower phonetic part 皮.

1. Meaning

to winnow grain using a basket, or to toss up and down

to rock or joltto shake off or discard

VerbLiterary#agriculture#motion#action

Sample Usage

用簸箕簸米
yòng bòji bǒ mǐ
to winnow rice using a dustpan-like basket
命运在簸弄他
mìngyùn zài bǒnòng tā
fate is toying with and tossing him around

2. Sound

/[pɔ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

簸

bǒbo3

ˇ(214)

=bǒ

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: b sound as in boy

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. A tissue in front of lips should stay still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together gently and then released cleanly with voiced vocal cords.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -o rhymes with aw in law

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

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 skeptical 'Really?', then rises up in disbelief.

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

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the vowel sound with the open 'a' or flat 'e' sounds; it is a rounded back vowel.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from your normal speaking pitch to a low bottom point, then sweep upward.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the top bamboo component (竹) sits compactly and evenly across the upper half, leaving a solid and balanced foundation for the lower phonetic part 皮.

4. Components

Radical 竹 · Bamboo Radical (bamboo, bamboo strips, instruments made of bamboo)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 竹 (Indicates that the original winnowing tool was made of woven bamboo strips.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 皮 (original sound: pí / bǒ sound clue)

A winnowing basket is woven out of bamboo (竹), while the leather-like or flexible skin (皮) structure of the shaking motion gives it its phonetic sound bǒ.

竹 Top semantic radical referring to bamboo tools
皮 Lower component providing the phonetic hint

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

15· Phonetic Root: 皮 (pí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the bamboo radical (竹) representing the basket material and 皮 for sound, illustrating the ancient agricultural implement used to separate grain from chaff.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred strictly to the action of tossing grain in a bamboo basket to winnow out husks; extended metaphorically to any turbulent tossing or shaking motion, such as waves or fate tossing a person.

Winnowing baskets were essential farming implements in ancient China, mentioned frequently in classical texts regarding agricultural labor.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

bả

Mandarin tone 3 corresponds roughly to Vietnamese hỏi or ngã tones depending on historical derivation.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ハ, ハク

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

파

Sound Shift Bridge: Initial b- remains stable across many linguistic borrowings and ancient phonology comparisons.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take a woven **bamboo** (竹) basket and shake its flexible **skin/surface** (**皮**) back and forth to **winnow** (bǒ) the wheat grains in the wind.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

皮

pískin, leather, furPhonetic Core (声旁)

破

pòbroken+ 石 (stone)

被

bèiquilt, to cover, passive voice marker+ 衤 (clothes)

彼

bǐthat, those, (one) another+ 彳 (stepping)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

波(bō)

波 uses the water radical (氵) for liquid waves, whereas 簸 uses the bamboo radical (竹) for farming tools.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

农夫用竹篮子[___]去稻谷里的杂质。

Clue: bǒ

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the top bamboo radical (竹) with the grass radical (艹) or mixing up the phonetic base 皮 with similar components like 支.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 簸, what agricultural action and pronunciation come to mind?

Production: How do you write the character for winnowing/tossing grain (bǒ), combining bamboo and skin?

簸bǒwinnow, toss

Speed:

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