莖 (jīng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

莖

jīng[jing1]Tone 1

stem

HSK 7

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茎

Guru Deep Dive

English · stem

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The top grass radical (艹) sits flat and wide, while the bottom phonetic component (巠) provides a stable, balanced foundation with vertical alignment down the center.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form (莖) and simplified form (茎) share the same grass radical and bottom structure, maintaining identical stroke counts and structural topology.

1. Meaning

stalk, stem

peduncleaxis of a plant

NounNeutral#botany#plants#nature

Sample Usage

这朵花的茎很长。
Zhè duǒ huā de jīng hěn cháng.
The stem of this flower is very long.
地下茎可以储存养分。
Dìxià jīng kěyǐ chǔcún yǎngfèn.
Underground stems can store nutrients.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

莖

jīngjing1

¯(55)

=jīng

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

jing

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j like the sound in 'jeep' or 'jug'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: The blade of the tongue touches or comes very close to the hard palate, releasing gently with friction.

Final Rhyme

ing

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ing rhymes with 'sing' or 'ring'

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

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

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is flat and high (55), exactly like a sustained musical note at the top of a normal speaking range.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'jīng' with 'jīn' (finishing with an alveolar '-n' instead of a velar '-ng'). Ensure the back of your tongue lifts toward the soft palate for the nasal velar sound.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a high, flat pitch like a steady singing note held at the top of your voice range. Make a flat horizontal gesture with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top grass radical (艹) sits flat and wide, while the bottom phonetic component (巠) provides a stable, balanced foundation with vertical alignment down the center.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form (莖) and simplified form (茎) share the same grass radical and bottom structure, maintaining identical stroke counts and structural topology.

4. Components

Radical 艹 · Grass Radical (Plants, vegetation, herbs)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 艹 (Indicates that the word relates to plants or vegetation (a plant stem).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 巠 (original sound: jīng)

A plant (艹 - grass radical) has an underground or upright water channel/pathway structure that feeds it (巠 - channel/underground stream), forming the stem (茎) that carries nutrients.

艹 Grass/plant semantic classifier
巠 Phonetic clue providing the 'jing' sound

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

14· Phonetic Root: 巠 (jīng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the grass radical (艹) representing vegetation and 巠 (jīng, meaning underground water channels or warp threads) which provides the phonetic sound and hints at channels transporting water inside a plant.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to the trunk or stalk of plants, later expanding to include specialized botanical stem structures like tubers and runners.

The phonetic component 巠 originally depicted underground water veins or weaving threads, symbolizing conveyance and channels.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

cành

Sino-Vietnamese readings map Chinese initials to corresponding Vietnamese initials, though modern usage favors native or adapted terms.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ケイ / Kun: くき

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

경

Sound Shift Bridge: The ending '-ing' in Mandarin regularly corresponds to '-ing' or similar nasal endings across historical borrowings.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a tall **grass plant (艹)** whose central **channels (巠)** act like plumbing pipes, pumping water straight up through its long green **stem (茎)**.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

巠

jīngunderground watercourse; archaic variant of 經|经[jing1]Phonetic Core (声旁)

徑

+ 彳 (stepping)

氫

+ 气 (air)

烴

+ 火 (fire)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

经(jīng)

茎 has the grass radical (艹) for plants, whereas 经 has the thread radical (纟) for silk and classics.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

這朵玫瑰花的___上有刺。

Clue: jīng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character 茎 (stem) with 经 (classics/warp) because they share the same phonetic component 巠.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 茎, what does it mean and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for plant 'stem' (jīng) using the grass radical?

莖jīngstem

Speed:

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