籍 (jí) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

籍

jí[ji2]Tone 2

book, record, register, native place, membership

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · book, record, register, native place, membership

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:20

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (竹) should be compressed slightly to leave ample vertical space for the intricate lower components (such as 束 and 耒).

1. Meaning

book, record, registry

ancestral home or native placemembership in an organization or nationsurname Ji

NounFormalBound morpheme#documents#identity#bureaucracy

Sample Usage

国籍
guójí
nationality
书籍
shūjí
books

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi³⁵]/Tone: 35

籍

jíji2

´(35)

=jí

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j in 'jeans' (alveolo-palatal affricate)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth while the front of the tongue rises toward the hard palate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee in 'see'

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

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

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises from mid to high, just like asking a surprised question in English: 'Huh?' or 'Really?'

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2 syllable, it shifts to a high rising pitch variant depending on speech tempo.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing it with Tone 4 (jì) or Tone 1 (jī) due to rapid speech in compound words like 国籍 (guójí).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from mid-chest and moving up to eye level, mirroring the upward pitch of Tone 2.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 20 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (竹) should be compressed slightly to leave ample vertical space for the intricate lower components (such as 束 and 耒).

4. Components

Radical 竹 · Bamboo radical (bamboo, slips for writing)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 竹 (Indicates that ancient records and books were written on bamboo slips.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 耤 (original sound: jí)

Composed of the bamboo radical (竹) on top, indicating bamboo writing slips, combined with 耤 below, providing the phonetic sound and underlying concept of fields or records.

⺮ bamboo slips (semantic)
耒 plow / agricultural tool
昔 formerly / past times

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 耤 (jí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined bamboo (竹) with elements representing ancient agricultural registers or plowed fields (耤), reflecting how early government documents tracked land and population.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from specific bamboo agricultural records to official registers, books in general, and by extension, one's native registry or citizenship.

Before paper was invented, official books and records were tied bamboo strips.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

tịch

The entering tone in Sino-Vietnamese corresponds to checked, concise delivery.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: セキ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

적

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To keep official RECORDS of ancient BOOKS (竹), government scribes had to plow through piles of historical documents like working a PLOW in the fields.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

籍

jíbook, registryBase character with bamboo top.

藉

jièinsult, mattressUses grass radical (艹) instead of bamboo.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

藉(jiè)

藉 uses the grass radical 艹 (plant/mat), whereas 籍 uses the bamboo radical 竹 (records/books).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请问你的中国[___]是什么？

Clue: guó jí

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 籍 (jí) with 借 (jiè - to borrow) due to similar phonetic roots in compounds.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 籍 mean when seen in compound words like 书籍 or 国籍?

Production: How do you write the character for registry/books (jí) with the bamboo radical on top?

籍jíbook, record, register, native place, membership

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