Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (月 flesh/meat) is narrower and compressed to the left, while the right phonetic component (退) occupies the remaining two-thirds of the square, keeping both halves balanced horizontally.
1. Meaning
leg
lower limb of human or animalleg-like support of an object (e.g. table leg)
NounNeutral#anatomy#body parts#objects
Sample Usage
他的腿受伤了。
tā de tuǐ shōushāng le.
His leg is injured.
桌子腿坏了。
zhuōzi tuǐ huài le.
The table leg is broken.
2. Sound
/[tʰu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
腿
tuǐtui3
|
++
ˇ(214)
=tuǐ
Initial Consonant
t
Type: Aspirated Alveolar
Sounds like: t as in 'stop' (strongly aspirated)
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed firmly against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing a burst of air.
Final Rhyme
ui
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: -way sound (similar to 'way' but preceded by an 'oo' glide)
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'way'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei in Pinyin abbreviation rules.
Tone
T3 (214)
2 → 1 → 4 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 starts mid, dips down low into the vocal register, and rises back up, resembling an incredulous English 'What?'
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, tuǐ changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35), e.g., tuǐ jiàn becomes tuí jiàn.
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often confuse the initial 't-' with 'd-', or mistake the third tone for the fourth tone when spoken quickly in conversation.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 3 dips low and rises up, like tracing a checkmark or shrugging your shoulders down and then lifting them back up with your hand.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (月 flesh/meat) is narrower and compressed to the left, while the right phonetic component (退) occupies the remaining two-thirds of the square, keeping both halves balanced horizontally.
Semantic Clue (形旁):月 (Indicates that the character refers to a body part (flesh/meat).)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):退 (original sound: tuì)
The character combines the flesh radical (月) on the left with the phonetic component meaning 'to retreat/step back' (退) on the right, signifying the limbs used for stepping back and walking.
⺼ Flesh / body part semantic indicator
艮 Phonetic and structural component hinting at movement
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally, body part characters were written with the meat/flesh radical (月, flesh) combined with a phonetic indicator showing movement or retreat.
Semantic Evolution: Over time, the radical Yue (flesh) stabilized on the left to designate anatomical parts, while the right side phonetic narrowed down to represent the lower limbs used for locomotion.
The meat radical in Chinese characters (⺼) is historically derived from the character for meat (肉), which graphically morphed to look identical to the moon (月) in modern standard regular script.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
thoái
The Sino-Vietnamese reading 'thoái' corresponds to the phonetic root, though the native modern meaning is leg.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: タイ / Kun: sune
Sound Shift Bridge: The phonetic root provides a bridge to Sino-Xenic vocabulary sharing the sound component.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Your FLESH radical (月) shows that this is part of your body. When you run so fast that you have to RETREAT (退) because your LEGS (腿) are tired, you remember the sound tuǐ!
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
退
tuìto retreatUses walking/movement radical (辶) instead of flesh radical (月).
腿
tuǐlegUses flesh radical (月) indicating body part.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
退(tuì)
退 has the movement radical (辶) meaning to retreat, whereas 腿 has the flesh radical (月) meaning leg.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
他走路走得太多，[___]很疼。
Clue: tuǐ
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the tone (using 4th tone tuì instead of 3rd tone tuǐ) or confusing the character with its phonetic partner 退.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 腿 mean and how is it pronounced?
Production: How do you write the Chinese word for 'leg' using the flesh radical?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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腿tuǐleg
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