迷 (mí) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

迷

mí[mi2]Tone 2

fan / confused / lost

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · fan / confused / lost

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (辶) wraps dynamically under and around the right phonetic component (米), maintaining a tight, balanced centerline.

1. Meaning

fan, enthusiast

to bewildercrazy aboutlostconfused

Noun / Verb / AdjectiveNeutral#personality#hobbies#mental state

Sample Usage

他是一个球迷。
tā shì yī gè qiú mí.
He is a football fan.
我在森林里迷路了。
wǒ zài sēnlín lǐ mí lù le.
I got lost in the forest.

2. Sound

/[mi³⁵]/Tone: 35

迷

mími2

´(35)

=mí

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound like in 'mother'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Both lips closed together for the nasal sound, then opening into the vowel.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound like in 'meet'

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

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises like asking a surprised question in English: 'What?' or 'Really?'

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2, it shifts slightly to a half-rising pitch depending on speech tempo.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with Tone 4 (mì) or Tone 3 (mǐ); keep the pitch trajectory distinctly upward.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a mid-register and sweep your hand sharply up to the ceiling like an ascending elevator.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (辶) wraps dynamically under and around the right phonetic component (米), maintaining a tight, balanced centerline.

4. Components

Radical 辶 · Walk/Movement Radical (movement, walking, path)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 辶 (indicates movement or losing one's path while traveling)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 米 (original sound: mǐ)

A traveler walking (辶) through a field of scattered rice grains (米) gets completely disoriented and lost.

辶 movement / walking path
米 rice / scattered grains

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 米 (mǐ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the walk radical (辶) and the phonetic/semantic element of spreading or scattering (米, representing individual grains spread out).

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to lose one's way or go astray while traveling, which naturally extended to being mentally lost, dazzled, or infatuated (obsessed/crazy about something like a fan).

The walk radical (辶) frequently forms characters related to roads, journeys, and motion.
The transition from 'lost' to 'fan' reflects being so captivated by something that you lose yourself in it.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You are walking down the path (辶) and suddenly trip over a huge pile of scattered rice (米), causing you to get totally lost (mí) and dizzy, making you a crazy fan (mí) of rice fields!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

谜

míriddle, enigmaReplaces the walk radical with speech radical (讠), meaning words that make you confused.

糜

míporridge, grindUses hemp/roof elements on top of rice.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

谜(mí)

谜 has the speech radical (讠) because a riddle is spoken, whereas 迷 has the walk radical (辶) because you walk and get lost.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他是周杰伦的超级歌[___]。

Clue: mí

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical 辶 with 阝 or forgetting the exact stroke order of the inner 米 component.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 迷, what two main concepts come to mind regarding its meanings?

Production: How do you write the character for 'fan' or 'lost' (mí) using the walk radical and rice?

迷mífan / confused / lost

Speed:

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