輩 (bèi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

輩

bèi[bei4]Tone 4

generation

HSK 5

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辈

Guru Deep Dive

English · generation

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (非) must be compressed slightly to make room for the vehicle component (车) at the bottom, maintaining a stable vertical center.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 輩 uses 車 at the bottom, which is kept in the simplified form 辈.

1. Meaning

generation

lifetimegroup of peopleclassclassifier for generations

Noun / ClassifierNeutral#society#family#time

Sample Usage

前辈
qián bèi
senior / predecessor
这一辈人
zhè yí bèi rén
this generation of people

2. Sound

/[peɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

輩

bèibei4

`(51)

=bèi

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: b sound in 'bed'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. A tissue in front of lips should stay still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together firmly, then released cleanly with voice vibration.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'hey' or 'day'

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

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 abruptly to the floor, exactly like saying 'No!' in English when refusing something firmly.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with Tone 1 (bēi) or Tone 3 (běi). Ensure the pitch drops decisively.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp karate chop downward from high in the air to signal the finality of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (非) must be compressed slightly to make room for the vehicle component (车) at the bottom, maintaining a stable vertical center.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 輩 uses 車 at the bottom, which is kept in the simplified form 辈.

4. Components

Radical 车 · Vehicle Radical (cart, vehicle)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 车 (Denotes movement or lineage rolling forward through time like a cart.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 非 (original sound: fēi / bèi sound clue)

Generations roll forward through history like carts (车) carrying non-stop (非) lineages of people.

非 Phonetic and upper structure (not / wrong / non-stop)
车 Radical and lower structure (vehicle / cart)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

26· Phonetic Root: 非 (fēi)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined a phonetic element indicating sound with a vehicle component, representing lines of people following one another like a convoy of carts.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from carts following each other to generations of families following one another through time.

In traditional Chinese society, family lineages were viewed as continuous chains moving forward through generations.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

bối

Sắc tone in Vietnamese corresponds to high checked or rising tendencies, similar to high Mandarin pitches.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ハイ / Kun: トモガラ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

배

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Generation after generation (辈) of ancestors rode in carts (车) that non-stop (非) kept rolling down the highway of time.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

辈

bèigenerationBase character with vehicle at bottom.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

背(bèi)

Has flesh/body (月) at the bottom instead of a vehicle (车), meaning 'back' or 'to recite'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他是我們家族年輕一___的優秀代表。

Clue: bèi

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the bottom component with 月 (flesh/body) from 背, leading to incorrect character composition.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 辈, what does it mean and how is it pronounced with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'generation' (bèi) using 非 and 车?

輩bèigeneration

Speed:

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