辜 (gū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

辜

gū[gu1]Tone 1

crime, sin, surname Gu

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · crime, sin, surname Gu

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:11

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (古) should be slightly compact and centered horizontally, while the bottom component (辛) spreads wider to anchor the base of the character stably.

1. Meaning

crime, sin, guilt

surname Guuncultivated land (archaic)

Noun / Proper NounLiteraryBound morpheme#law#morality#surnames

Sample Usage

无辜
wú gū
innocent (lit. without sin/crime)
负辜
fù gū
to bear guilt or sin

2. Sound

/[ku⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

辜

gūgu1

¯(55)

=gū

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Velar

Sounds like: g sound as in 'go'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air (sounds like 'c' in Vietnamese 'cá' or 'k' in English 'skate').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue raised to contact the soft palate (velum)

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot' or 'zoo'

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

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 at pitch level 55, similar to a sustained musical note or a flat high plateau in English exclamation 'Ah!'.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with the retroflex initial 'gū' vs 'zhū' or mistake the high level tone for a rising tone.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a high, flat, level pitch held steady like a sustained musical note at the top of your vocal range.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 11 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (古) should be slightly compact and centered horizontally, while the bottom component (辛) spreads wider to anchor the base of the character stably.

4. Components

Radical 辛 · Bitter Radical (Bitter, painful, suffering, crime)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 辛 (Indicates hardship, punishment, crime, or bitterness)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 古 (original sound: gǔ / gū sound clue)

The character combines 古 (ancient/solid) on top with 辛 (bitter/punishment) on the bottom, representing an ancient punishment, crime, or bitter misdeed.

古 Provides the phonetic sound 'gu'
辛 Provides the semantic meaning of suffering, crime, or bitterness

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

26· Phonetic Root: 古 (gǔ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally a phono-semantic compound where 古 (gǔ) supplies the pronunciation and 辛 (xīn) provides the meaning related to legal offenses, crimes, and bitter punishments.

Semantic Evolution: Over time, its standalone usage for 'crime' became largely limited to literary compounds like 无辜 (innocent), while its most common modern survival is as a Chinese surname (Gu).

In ancient legal terminology, 辜 referred specifically to severe crimes or offenses punishable by torture or hard labor.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

cô

High level tone in Mandarin matches the level/unmarked tone in Vietnamese.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: コ (ko)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

고

Sound Shift Bridge: The historical initial 'g-' corresponds to Sino-Vietnamese 'c-' and Japanese 'k-/ko'.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

In ancient times, an ANCIENT (古) rule decreed that committing a BITTER CRIME (辛) leaves a lasting mark of GUILT (辜) on one's family name (Gu).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

古

gǔancient, old, paleo-Phonetic Core (声旁)

故

gùreason, cause, former, therefore, old+ 攵 (strike)

苦

kǔbitter+ 艹 (plants)

固

gùhard, strong, solid+ 囗 (enclosure)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

故(gù)

故 uses 攵 (folding cane/action) on the right or has a different base, whereas 辜 features 辛 (bitter/punishment) at the bottom.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

那个年轻人是无[___]的，请不要错怪他。

Clue: gū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 辜 (gū) with the much more common character 故 (gù), or misremembering its stroke order and proportions when combining 古 and 辛.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 辜 in the word 无辜, what does it mean?

Production: How do you write the character for 'crime' or surname 'Gu' (gū) using components 古 and 辛?

辜gūcrime, sin, surname Gu

Speed:

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