育 (yù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

育

yù[yu4]Tone 4

to educate, to raise

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · to educate, to raise

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (zǐ or ròu variant) should be compact, and the bottom component (yuè) should spread wide to balance the structure firmly.

1. Meaning

to educate or raise children

to bring upto cultivateto nurture

VerbNeutral#education#childcare#growth#society

Sample Usage

教育是国家的大事。
jiàoyù shì guójiā de dàshì.
Education is a matter of vital importance to the country.
父母辛苦地抚育孩子长大。
fùmǔ xīnkǔ de fǔyù háizi zhǎngdà.
Parents work hard to raise their children up.

2. Sound

/[y³⁵]/Tone: 35

育

yùyu4

`(51)

=yù

Initial Consonant

Type: Palatal Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: Zero initial (starts directly with the vowel ü)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches lower front teeth while lips are puckered into a tight circle.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -v vowel group

Sounds like: French 'u' sound or German 'ü'

Note: Written as 'u', pronounced as rounded 'ü' [y].

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 (rising 35) starts mid and rises sharply upward, identical to an inquisitive English 'Huh?' or 'What?'.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the rounded front vowel 'ü' with the plain back vowel 'u' (oo). Make sure your tongue is pushed forward against your lower teeth.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start from a mid-low pitch and sweep your hand upward like an elevator rising to the top floor.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (zǐ or ròu variant) should be compact, and the bottom component (yuè) should spread wide to balance the structure firmly.

4. Components

Radical 月 · Moon Radical (moon, flesh)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 月 (Represents the body or flesh growing)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 𠫓 (original sound: yù)

An upside-down child (𠫓) emerging from a body (月), depicting birth, nurturing, and raising new life.

𠫓 upside-down newborn or birth imagery
月 flesh / body

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 育 (yù)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Oracle bone scripts show a woman giving birth (an upside-down baby emerging), combined later with flesh or body parts to represent nurturing and raising offspring.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant giving birth and nursing an infant, which expanded into raising, training, and finally general education.

The glyph vividly captures the physical reality of childbirth and maternal care in ancient times.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: イク / Kun: そだ.つ / はぐく.む

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

육

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a newborn baby (𠫓) growing up healthy and strong month by month (月) through good education and loving care (yù).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

育

yùto educateBase form representing birth and raising.

𠫓

lìnewborn childRare standalone ancient component.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

有(yǒu)

有 has a horizontal top stroke and means 'to have', whereas 育 features an inverted child component on top.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们要好好地[___]下一代。

Clue: yù

Common Learner Pitfall

Mispronouncing the 'ü' vowel as an English 'u' (oo), leading to confusion with other syllables.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 育 mean and how do you pronounce it with Tone 4?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to educate' or 'to raise' (yù)?

育yùto educate, to raise

Speed:

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