踢 (tī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

踢

tī[ti1]Tone 1

to kick

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · to kick

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (foot radical) is compressed vertically to make room for the complex right component 易, keeping the overall glyph square and balanced.

1. Meaning

to kick

to play (e.g. soccer)(slang) butch (in a lesbian relationship)

VerbNeutral / Colloquial#action#sports#body movement

Sample Usage

他踢了一脚球。
tā tī le yī jiǎo qiú.
He kicked a ball.
你会踢足球吗？
nǐ huì tī zúqiú ma?
Can you play soccer?

2. Sound

/[tʰi˥]/Tone: 55

踢

tīti1

¯(55)

=tī

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t as in 'tea'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ee as in 'see'

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

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 flat and high, like a musical note held steady at the top of your vocal range.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the unvoiced aspirated initial 't-' with an unaspirated 'd-' sound like 'di'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and high in the air at a steady level, matching the high-level pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (foot radical) is compressed vertically to make room for the complex right component 易, keeping the overall glyph square and balanced.

4. Components

Radical 足 · Foot Radical (Foot or leg)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 足 (Indicates actions performed with the foot)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 易 (original sound: yì / tī)

The foot radical (足) on the left provides the physical action of kicking, while the right component (易) provides the pronunciation and hints at changing or moving something with force.

足 Foot/leg (semantic category)
易 Easy/change (phonetic clue)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

10· Phonetic Root: 易 (yì)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the foot radical (足) representing physical stepping or striking, and 易 which historically contributed to the sound and sense of motion or change.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting striking with the foot, it has expanded to mean playing foot-based sports like soccer (踢足球) and taking on modern slang connotations.

Ancient Chinese sports like Cuju (cuju, an early form of football) heavily relied on precise foot control, making this character common in historical military and athletic texts.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your FOOT (足) to EASILY (易) TEE off and KICK a soccer ball across the field.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

踢

tīto kickHas the foot radical (足) for kicking.

易

yìeasyLacks the foot radical; means simple or easy.

赐

cìto bestowUses the shell/money radical (贝) instead of foot.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

易(yì)

易 means easy and lacks the foot radical on the left.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

孩子们在公园里开心宪地[___]足球。

Clue: tī

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting to write the foot radical (足) as the compressed form on the left, or writing the right component 易 incorrectly.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 踢, what physical action does it represent and what sport is it commonly paired with?

Production: How do you write 'to kick' (tī) using the foot radical and phonetic component?

踢tīto kick

Speed:

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