Writing Balance Rule: The left side (歹) and the right side (列) must share the horizontal width evenly, keeping the overall glyph balanced and avoiding crowding.
1. Meaning
to split, to crack, to break open
to rendto tear apart
VerbNeutral#actions#damage#physics
Sample Usage
地面因为干旱而裂开了。
dìmiàn yīnwèi gànhàn ér liè kāi le.
The ground cracked open because of the drought.
这块布裂了一条缝。
zhè kuài bù liè le yī tiáo fèng.
This piece of cloth has a split seam.
2. Sound
/[li̯ɛ⁵¹]/Tone: 51
裂
lièlie4
|
++
`(51)
=liè
Initial Consonant
l
Type: Alveolar Lateral
Sounds like: l sound as in 'love'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind upper front teeth.
Final Rhyme
ie
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -ie rhymes with yeh in 'yeast'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yeh'.
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 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, like a sudden exclamation of command.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the falling Tone 4 [liè] with rising Tone 2 [lié] or dipping Tone 3 [liě].
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful downward karate chop, mirroring the sudden action of splitting something in two.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (歹) and the right side (列) must share the horizontal width evenly, keeping the overall glyph balanced and avoiding crowding.
4. Components
Radical歹 · Death / Bone Radical (decay, bone, death, damage)
Semantic Clue (形旁):歹 (indicates decay, damage, or breaking apart)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):列 (original sound: liè)
The character combines 歹 (bone/decay) on the left with 列 (to arrange/split) on the right, signifying bones splitting or a fracture causing structural damage.
歹 damage / bone
列 to line up / split
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
8· Phonetic Root: 列 (liè)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally formed by combining 歹 (signifying bones or ruin) with 列 (providing the pronunciation and the sense of separating or cutting into pieces).
Semantic Evolution: From ancient meanings related to bone breakage and ruin, it generalized to mean any physical splitting, cracking, or rending of materials.
The radical 歹 often appears in characters associated with misfortune, death, or structural failure.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
liệt
Corresponds to the heavy glottal stop / abrupt tone (thanh nặng) in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: レツ (retsu) / Kun: さ.く (sa.ku)
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
열
Sound Shift Bridge: The ending -et/-etsu in Japanese and Hanja mirrors the historical Chinese entering tone ending in a stop consonant, which evolved into modern Mandarin [liè].
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A decaying bone (歹) gets struck so hard by a cutting tool that it is split into a neat row (列) of fragments.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
列
lièto arrange, lineWithout the bone radical 歹, it means arrangement or sequence.
烈
lièferocious, intenseReplaces the left side with fire (灬), meaning blazing or fierce fire.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
列(liè)
列 lacks the 歹 radical on the left and refers to a row or arrangement.
烈(liè)
烈 uses the fire radical (灬) at the bottom instead of the bone radical (歹).
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
由于天气太热，干旱的土地都___开了。
Clue: liè
Common Learner Pitfall
Mistaking 裂 for its phonetic component 列 or confusing it with 烈 due to identical pinyin.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 裂 mean and how is it pronounced with tones?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to split' or 'to crack' (liè)?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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裂lièto split
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