脾 (pí) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

脾

pí[pi2]Tone 2

spleen

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · spleen

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The flesh radical on the left is narrow and compact, while the right component provides stable structural balance without crowding.

1. Meaning

spleen

temperamentdispositionmood

NounNeutral#anatomy#traditional Chinese medicine#personality

Sample Usage

脾脏
pí zàng
spleen (organ)
发脾气
fā pí qi
to lose one's temper

2. Sound

/[pʰi³⁵]/Tone: 35

脾

pípi2

´(35)

=pí

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound in English 'pat'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips firmly pressed together, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound in English '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 starts at a mid pitch and rises sharply to the top, exactly like the inflection used when expressing surprise or asking 'Huh?' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (pí) with Tone 4 (pì), which sounds angry and sharp.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Slide your hand upward from low to high, mimicking a rising siren or asking a question with 'What?'

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The flesh radical on the left is narrow and compact, while the right component provides stable structural balance without crowding.

4. Components

Radical 月 · Meat/Flesh Radical (when on the left, written as ⺼) (body parts, flesh, organs)

Semantic Clue (形旁): ⺼ (indicates that this character refers to an organ or body part)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 卑 (original sound: pi)

The flesh/organ radical (⺼) combines with the phonetic sound component 'low/inferior' (卑) to represent the spleen.

⺼ flesh/organ semantic indicator
卑 phonetic sound clue giving 'pí'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

17· Phonetic Root: 卑 (bēi)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the flesh signifier (⺼, originally meat 月) and a phonetic component (卑) indicating pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred strictly to the anatomical spleen organ in traditional medicine, later extended metaphorically to encompass human temperament and emotional disposition (such as losing one's temper).

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the spleen governs digestion and is closely tied to emotional temperament.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

tỳ

Mandarin rising tone corresponds to Vietnamese hỏi or tương đương.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ヒ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

비

Sound Shift Bridge: Shared East Asian medical terminology root via Classical Chinese.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Inside the body's fleshy organ network (⺼), the spleen acts humbly and quietly down below (卑), filtering blood day and night.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

碑

bēistone tabletUses the stone radical (石) instead of flesh (⺼).

牌

pái牌 brand / sign / cardUses the split-wood radical (片) instead of flesh (⺼).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

碑(bēi)

碑 has a stone radical (石) for stone tablets; 脾 has a flesh radical (⺼) for body organs.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他今天心情不好，总是爱发[___]气。

Clue: pí qì

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical ⺼ with the standalone moon character 月, or mixing up the phonetic component 卑 with similar looking components.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 脾, what is the English meaning and what body system does it relate to?

Production: How do you write the character for 'spleen' using the flesh radical and phonetic component?

脾píspleen

Speed:

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