豁 (huō) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

豁

huō[huo1]Tone 1

opening, crack, slit, or to sacrifice / stake all

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · opening, crack, slit, or to sacrifice / stake all

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:18

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left radical (谷) slightly narrower to leave ample room for the complex right component (害), ensuring the character remains stable and balanced.

1. Meaning

opening, crack, or slit

to sacrifice or stake all (as in 豁出去)generous or open-minded (as in 豁达)

Noun / VerbNeutral#geometry#action#abstract emotion

Sample Usage

豁出去
huō chū qù
to throw caution to the wind / to risk everything
豁达
huò dá
open-minded / optimistic

2. Sound

/[xuɔ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

豁

huōhuo1

¯(55)

=huō

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

huo

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Velar Fricative

Sounds like: h sound like in 'hat'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Gentle throat friction (like fogging glasses on a cold day).

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue approaches the soft palate to produce a fricative breath.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'wo' in 'woke' or 'uo' in 'uproar'

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

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 stays level and high, similar to sustaining a musical note at the top of your vocal range.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'h-' with 'f-' or failing to round the lips fully for the '-uo' rhyme, making it sound like 'he'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A flat, high horizontal hand gesture held steady in the upper register, representing the high level pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 18 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left radical (谷) slightly narrower to leave ample room for the complex right component (害), ensuring the character remains stable and balanced.

4. Components

Radical 谷 · Valley Radical (valley)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 谷 (Provides the semantic base related to a gap, opening, or valley.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 害 (original sound: hài / huō)

A deep valley (谷) that has been damaged, split, or cracked open by harm or injury (害), creating a wide opening or slit.

谷 valley / gorge (opening in the earth)
害 harm / injury (contributing sound and a sense of splitting apart)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 害 (hài)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 谷 (valley, representing an opening or ravine) and 害 (to harm/impair), originally depicting a fissure, crack, or natural opening in a mountain or object.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from a physical gap or crack in objects to abstract extensions like opening up one's mind (豁达) or risking/sacrificing everything by throwing oneself into a gap (豁出去).

The character bridges the concrete imagery of terrain gaps with psychological openness and daring acts.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine walking through a mountain valley (谷) when suddenly a harmful earthquake (害) splits the ground, creating a massive crack and opening (豁) right in front of you!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

害

hàiharmPhonetic Core (声旁)

割

gēto cut+ 刂 (knife)

辖

xiálinchpin / govern / jurisdiction+ 车 (car)

嗐

hàiexclamation of regret+ 口 (mouth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

括(kuò)

Uses the speech radical (讠) meaning to enclose or include, whereas 豁 uses the valley radical (谷) for an opening or crack.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

为了实现目标，他决定拼[___]干一场。

Clue: huō

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the 18-stroke complexity of 豁 with simpler characters or mispronouncing Tone 1 by dipping the pitch.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 豁 mean when paired with 出去 in the expression 豁出去?

Production: How do you write the character for a crack, slit, or to stake all, utilizing the valley radical (谷)?

豁huōopening, crack, slit, or to sacrifice / stake all

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