They are five hundred kilometers apart from each other.
2. Sound
/[t͡ɕy˥˩]/Tone: 51
距
jùju4
|
++
`(51)
=jù
Initial Consonant
j
Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: j sound as in 'jeep' (alveolo-palatal)
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue rises to contact the hard palate while the tip rests gently behind the lower front teeth.
Final Rhyme
u
Vowel Group: -v vowel group
Sounds like: ü rhymes with the 'u' sound in French 'lune' or German 'über'
Note: Written as 'u', pronounced as rounded 'ü' [y].
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ü'.
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 shouting a sudden command or saying 'No!' with emphasis.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the rounded front vowel ü with the plain back vowel u (wu), or confusing Tone 4 (jù) with Tone 2 (jú).
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, definitive chop downward with your hand, mirroring the plunging drop of Tone 4.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left foot radical (⻊) is narrower and slightly compressed to leave ample room for the right-hand phonetic component (巨).
4. Components
Radical⻊ · Foot Radical (foot, leg, stepping)
Semantic Clue (形旁):⻊ (Indicates physical walking, pacing, or spatial positioning)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):巨 (original sound: jù)
Walking by foot (⻊) to measure a huge (巨) distance between two places.
⻊ foot or leg
巨 huge or gigantic (providing the sound jù)
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
11· Phonetic Root: 巨 (jù)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Combined from the foot radical (⻊) denoting movement and walking, and 巨 (jù) which provides the phonetic pronunciation and a sense of extent.
Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to the spurs on a rooster's foot, then broadened to mean stepping out, measuring distance between feet, and finally any spatial or temporal interval.
The character bridges physical body parts (rooster spurs) with abstract geometric spacing.
6. Sinosphere
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: キョ
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
거
Sound Shift Bridge: Mandarin jù corresponds to Sino-Japanese 'kyo'.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
You take steps with your FOOT (⻊) across a HUGE (巨) expanse of land to calculate the exact DISTANCE (距).
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
巨
jùhuge, giantBase phonetic component without the foot radical.
拒
jùto resist, to repelReplaces the foot radical with the hand radical (扌), meaning to push away with hands.
柜
guìcabinet, cupboardReplaces the foot radical with the wood radical (木), referring to wooden furniture.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
拒(jù)
距 has the foot radical (⻊) for walking distances; 拒 has the hand radical (扌) for pushing things away.
具(jù)
具 means tool or equipment and has an internal horizontal line structure inside the bottom frame, unlike 巨.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我家[___]公司很远，每天需要坐一个小时地铁。
Clue: jù
Common Learner Pitfall
Forgetting to include the foot radical (⻊) on the left and accidentally writing just the phonetic component 巨.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see 距, what does it mean and how is it pronounced in Tone 4?
Production: How do you write the character meaning 'distance/apart from' that combines foot (⻊) and huge (巨)?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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距jùdistance, apart from
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