肥 (féi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

肥

féi[fei2]Tone 2

fat

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · fat

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (月 flesh/meat) is slightly narrower and vertically compressed, leaving ample room for the right component (巴) to maintain structural equilibrium.

1. Meaning

fat, plump, or fertile

loose-fitting or large (clothing)to fertilize or enrichto become rich by illegal meansfertilizer or manure

Adjective / VerbNeutral#body shape#agriculture#wealth#clothing fit

Sample Usage

这件衣服太肥了。
Zhè jiàn yīfu tài féi le.
This piece of clothing is too loose/baggy.
肥沃的土地适合种菜。
Féiwò de tǔdì shìhé zhòng cài.
Fertile soil is suitable for growing vegetables.

2. Sound

/[feɪ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

肥

féifei2

´(35)

=féi

Initial Consonant

Type: Labiodental Fricative

Sounds like: f sound as in 'fat'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Continuous smooth friction.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Upper teeth gently touch the lower lip, air flows continuously.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'hey' or 'day'

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

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 pitch (35), matching a surprised question in English like 'Really?'

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, the first syllable shifts to a high rising pitch similar to Tone 1 before taking on the final upward glide.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with tone 4 fèi (肺), which drops sharply. Keep the pitch climbing steadily upward.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 rises like a gentle upward slope or a questioning shrug of the shoulders: 'Huh?'

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (月 flesh/meat) is slightly narrower and vertically compressed, leaving ample room for the right component (巴) to maintain structural equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 月 · Flesh / Meat radical (when on the left, historically 肉) (flesh, body parts)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 月 (Indicates bodily flesh or fat)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 巴 (original sound: ba / fei sound evolution)

A plump body of flesh (月) combined with the sound clue 巴 creates the concept of being plump, fat, or rich in flesh.

月 Flesh / meat
巴 Phonetic indicator

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

20· Phonetic Root: 巴 (bā)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the flesh radical (月) representing bodily tissue and 巴 as a phonetic sound loan indicating fullness or stretching.

Semantic Evolution: From physical bodily fat and plumpness to agricultural fertility (fat soil), loose clothing (fat fit), and metaphorically becoming rich or fattened.

In ancient times, being 'féi' (plump) was often a sign of prosperity and good health.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ヒ (hi) / Kun: こえる (koeru), ふとる (futoru)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a person with lots of excess FLESH (月) sitting comfortably with their arms wrapped around a BARREL (巴), getting happily plump and FÉI (fat).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

把

bǎto hold / handfulUses the hand radical (扌) instead of flesh (月).

爸

bàdadUses the father radical (父) on top.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

肥(féi)

Be careful not to mix up with characters sharing the 巴 phonetic like 把 or 爸.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这条裤子对我来说太[___]了，需要买小一号的。

Clue: féi

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the rising tone (féi) with the falling tone (fèi 肺), or confusing the flesh radical (月) with the moon radical (though they share the same glyph form in modern simplified Chinese).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does féi mean when describing clothes?

Production: How do you write the adjective for 'fat' or 'fertile' using the flesh radical?

肥féifat

Speed:

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