肚 (dǔ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

肚

dǔ[du3]Tone 3

tripe

HSK 4

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · tripe

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (flesh/moon component) is narrower and taller, while the right component (土) is slightly broader to maintain visual equilibrium.

1. Meaning

tripe (edible lining of animal stomach)

stomach (when used in compound words like 肚子 dùzi)

NounNeutralBound morpheme#food#anatomy#meat

Sample Usage

爆肚
bàodù
quick-fried tripe (Beijing specialty)
牛肚
niúdù
beef tripe

2. Sound

/[tu³⁵]/Tone: 35

肚

dǔdu3

ˇ(214)

=dǔ

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound as in English 'do'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against alveolar ridge

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot'

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

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 2 rises from middle pitch to high pitch, matching an inquiring tone in English.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone, dǔ changes to a 2nd tone.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the unaspirated 'd' sound with the strongly aspirated 't' sound.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a mid pitch and slide upward to a high pitch, like asking a question: 'Really?'

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (flesh/moon component) is narrower and taller, while the right component (土) is slightly broader to maintain visual equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 月 · Meat/Moon Radical (Flesh variant) (Flesh, body parts)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 月 (Indicates body parts or organs)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 土 (original sound: tǔ)

The meat radical (月) on the left represents body parts, and the soil/earth component (土) on the right provides the phonetic hint for the sound.

⺼ Flesh / body part
土 Phonetic clue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

10· Phonetic Root: 土 (tǔ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the flesh/organ radical (⺼) and the sound component 土 to designate internal organs of the body, specifically the stomach and tripe.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to the stomach of animals (tripe) and later expanded to general stomach references in compounds like 肚子.

The meat radical is written as 月 (flesh variant) when placed on the left side of a Chinese character.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture a piece of MEAT (⺼) sitting on the SOIL (土) of a farm, which happens to be a cow's stomach lining (tripe) drying out in the sun.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

肚

dǔtripe, stomachFlesh radical + soil component

杜

dùstop, prevent; birch-leaved pearWood radical + soil component

吐

tǔto spit, vomitMouth radical + soil component

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

杜(dù)

杜 uses the wood radical (木) instead of the flesh radical (⺼).

吐(tǔ)

吐 uses the mouth radical (口) instead of the flesh radical (⺼).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这盘爆[___]非常脆嫩可口。

Clue: dù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the flesh radical (⺼) on the left with the tree radical (木) or mouth radical (口).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 肚, what does it signify in food contexts?

Production: How do you write the character for tripe (dǔ), noting its left-right components?

肚dǔtripe

Speed:

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