HanziGuru.累 · léi
累
léi[lei2]Tone 2

rope

HSK 1
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纍
Multiple Readings (多音字):
Guru Deep Dive

English · rope

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Topology:Top-bottom
Strokes:11
Writing Balance Rule: The top elements must be compact and balanced horizontally, while the lower 田 and 糸 components spread out stably to prevent the character from feeling top-heavy.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 纍 (composed of multiple fields and silk/rope parts stacked) was simplified in modern standard Chinese to 累 (which shares the same form as lèi 'tired').
1. Meaning

rope

to bind togetherto twist aroundaccumulated
noun / verbLiteraryBound morpheme#materials#actions#abstract quantities
Sample Usage
  • 连累
    liánlèi
    to implicate, to trouble
  • 硕果累累
    shuò guǒ léi léi
    abundant achievements, heavily laden with fruit
2. Sound
/[leɪ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35
累
léilei2
++
´(35)
=léi
Initial Consonant
l
Type: Alveolar Lateral
Sounds like: l sound as in 'love'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge right behind the upper front teeth.
Final Rhyme
ei
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'ray'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ay'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T2 (35)
2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises from middle pitch to high pitch (35), exactly like asking 'Huh?' or 'Really?' in English.
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, it shifts to a rising contour similar to a Tone 3 transition depending on speech speed.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing léi (rising tone 2) with lèi (falling tone 4, meaning tired), which is an extremely common everyday vocabulary word.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A quick upward arc with your hand, mirroring an inquisitive 'What?' gesture.
3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top elements must be compact and balanced horizontally, while the lower 田 and 糸 components spread out stably to prevent the character from feeling top-heavy.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 纍 (composed of multiple fields and silk/rope parts stacked) was simplified in modern standard Chinese to 累 (which shares the same form as lèi 'tired').

4. Components

Radical 田 · Field Radical (field, land)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 糸 (Indicates ropes, threads, and binding concepts.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 田 (original sound: léi)

A farmer uses multiple fields (田) and bundles of silk threads or ropes (糸) tied together to measure and secure the harvest.

  • 田 fields / blocks
  • 糸 silk / threads / binding
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted multiple strands of silk or rope bound together over agricultural land, symbolizing accumulation and interconnection.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from literal physical ropes and binding to abstract accumulation (such as accumulated fruits or accumulated fatigue/troubles).

  • In classical texts, it frequently appeared when describing heavily laden fruit trees or chained criminals.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
lụy
Corresponds to Vietnamese heavy checked or dipping tones depending on historical phonetic tiers.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: ルイ (rui)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
누
Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'l' matches Latin-derived lateral liquid shifts across Eurasian language families.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine tying thick ropes (糸) across multiple crop fields (田) to bundle up an enormous harvest so heavy it leaves you exhausted (léi).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
累
lèitiredSame character written identically, but pronounced with Tone 4 when meaning fatigue.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
雷(léi)
Replaces the bottom rope/field parts with 雨 (rain), meaning 'thunder' instead of 'rope'.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
秋天到了，果园里挂满了[___]的果实。
Clue: léi léi
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the pitch and meaning with lèi (tired, Tone 4), since both share the exact same simplified written character 累.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the character 累 pronounced as léi in classical idioms like 累累, what does it signify?
Production: How do you write the character representing ropes, binding, and accumulated heavy fruit with 11 strokes?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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