計 (jì) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

計

jì[ji4]Tone 4

calculate, plan, meter

HSK 2

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计

Guru Deep Dive

English · calculate, plan, meter

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (言) should be slightly narrower and compressed to leave ample room for the right component (十), maintaining overall horizontal harmony.

Simplification Logic: The left side uses the simplified radical for speech/words (讠), reducing strokes from 7 to 2, while keeping the right component (十) unchanged.

1. Meaning

to calculate, compute, or plan

to countruse or stratagemmeter or gaugesurname Ji

Verb / NounNeutral#cognition#mathematics#strategy#measurement

Sample Usage

我们要好好计划一下。
Wǒ men yào hǎo hǎo jì huà yí xià.
We need to make a good plan.
这是一个好计谋。
Zhè shì yí gè hǎo jì móu.
This is a good strategy/ruse.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi˥˩]/Tone: 51

計

jìji4

`(51)

=jì

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j sound as in 'jeep'

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the hard palate, releasing air smoothly without a strong burst.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound as in 'see'

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

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 plunges down steeply, exactly like saying 'No!' or 'Stop!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the high-falling Tone 4 (jì) with Tone 1 (jī) or Tone 3 (jǐ). Make sure the pitch starts high and drops immediately.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful karate chop downwards from head height to chest level, matching the abrupt drop of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (言) should be slightly narrower and compressed to leave ample room for the right component (十), maintaining overall horizontal harmony.

Simplification Logic: The left side uses the simplified radical for speech/words (讠), reducing strokes from 7 to 2, while keeping the right component (十) unchanged.

4. Components

Radical 讠 · Speech Radical (words, speech, communication)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 讠 (indicates that calculating or planning involves speaking, discussing, or verbalizing strategies)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 十 (original sound: shí / jì phonetic nexus in ancient rhyme tables)

Words (讠) multiplied ten times (十) turn into a careful calculation, strategy, or master plan.

讠 Speech / Words
十 Ten / Complete number

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

8· Phonetic Root: 十 (shí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined speech (言) with a phonetic sound element (十), reflecting the conceptual evolution from 'to speak, advise, or deliberate' to 'to calculate and plan'.

Semantic Evolution: From speaking words of advice or deliberation in court, it expanded to mean weighing options mentally, calculating numbers, and devising plans.

Ancient strategists used verbal deliberation ('计') before initiating military campaigns.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

kế

Mandarin Tone 4 (falling) corresponds roughly to Vietnamese sắc or nặng tone contours depending on historical register.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ケイ (kei) / Kun: はかる (hakaru)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

계

Sound Shift Bridge: The historical initial velar/palatal stops align across East Asian borrowings (e.g., Japanese 'kei', Vietnamese 'kế').

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To make a master plan (计), you use your WORDS (讠) to multiply your ideas TEN (十) times over.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

订

dìngto agree, to concludeSpeech radical + nail/spike (丁) = making a firm reservation or agreement.

讨

tǎoto discuss, to demandSpeech radical + over (寸) = discussing or tracking down a matter.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

记(jì)

Uses the 'to/hand' radical (讠) combined with 'self/ oneself' (己) to mean 'to remember or record', whereas 计 uses 'ten' (十) for calculating.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我們必須好好 [___] 一下明年的預算。

Clue: jì huà

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the right side component (十 - ten) with similar characters like 千 (thousand) or mixing up 计 (calculate) with 记 (remember).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see '计', what is its primary meaning and falling tone pronunciation?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to calculate or plan' using speech and ten?

計jìcalculate, plan, meter

Speed:

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