调 (diào) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

调

diào[diao4]Tone 4

tune, melody, transfer, tone

HSK 3

View Traditional FormSwitch to Traditional

調

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · tune, melody, transfer, tone

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (讠) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (周) balanced, structured, and compact.

Simplification Logic: The left-hand component 訁 was simplified to the standard two-stroke speech radical 讠.

1. Meaning

tune, melody, tone, or to transfer/move

accentview or argumentmusical key or modeto investigate or inquire

Noun / VerbNeutral#music#administration#action#sound

Sample Usage

这首曲子的调子很优美。
Zhè shǒu qǔzi de diàozi hěn yōuměi.
The tune of this piece of music is very beautiful.
他被调到北京工作了。
Tā bèi diào dào Běijīng gōngzuò le.
He was transferred to work in Beijing.

2. Sound

/[ti̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

调

diàodiao4

`(51)

=diào

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: English 'd' sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the alveolar ridge behind upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes roughly with 'ee-ow' combined into a triphthong

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

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

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: Contains the medial i- glide followed by the open vowel a and u.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, identical to an emphatic English 'No!' or 'Stop!'.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the fourth tone falling pitch with Tone 2 or Tone 3, resulting in a completely different lexical meaning.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A decisive karate chop downward representing a sharp falling command.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (讠) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (周) balanced, structured, and compact.

Simplification Logic: The left-hand component 訁 was simplified to the standard two-stroke speech radical 讠.

4. Components

Radical 讠 · Speech Radical (Words, speech, language, communication)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 讠 (Indicates relation to speech, sounds, tones, or administrative orders given by word.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 周 (original sound: zhōu / diào)

Words (讠) spoken all around the circle or circuit (周) set the musical tune or administrative transfer orders.

讠 Speech / Language radical
周 Circuit / Circumference (provides phonetic and structural support)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

18· Phonetic Root: 周 (zhōu)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the speech radical (讠) indicating communication or sound and (周) providing the sound and the idea of cycling around or covering a territory.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to musical notes and scales, it expanded to cover speech accents, tunes, and administrative movements or investigations spanning across regions.

Music and government administration have long shared terminology in ancient Chinese bureaucratic institutions.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: チョウ (chō) / Kun: しらべ (shirabe) / ととのえる (totonoeru)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your SPEECH (讠) to CIRCULATE (周) instructions when you TRANSFER staff to a new branch or set the musical TUNE for the choir.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

周

zhōucircuit, circumferenceWithout speech radical, it means cycle or week.

调

diàotune, transferWith speech radical, it deals with spoken tones, music, and transfers.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

周(zhōu)

Missing the left speech radical 讠 entirely.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他被___到了另一个城市工作。

Clue: diào

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the complex structure of the right-hand component 周 and misplacing strokes.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 调 mean when seen in musical contexts or work transfers?

Production: How do you write the character for 'tune' or 'transfer' (diào) using the speech radical?

调diàotune, melody, transfer, tone

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0