遵 (zūn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

遵

zūn[zun1]Tone 1

to obey

HSK 5

Guru Deep Dive

English · to obey

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (Shòuyè 彔 / 酋) must be compressed slightly to leave ample horizontal space for the movement-indicating walk radical (⻌) wrapping around the bottom right.

1. Meaning

to obey, comply with, or follow (rules, laws, or instructions)

to respect or defer toto travel along a path or route

VerbFormalBound morpheme#law#behavior#ethics#society

Sample Usage

我们必须遵守交通规则。
wǒmen bìxū zūnshǒu jiāotōng guīzé.
We must obey traffic rules.
遵照您的指示辦事。
zūnzhào nín de zhǐshì bànshì.
Acting in accordance with your instructions.

2. Sound

/[tsu̯ən⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

遵

zūnzun1

¯(55)

=zūn

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts sound like the ts in 'cats'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff (sounds like 'ds' in English 'cards'). Tissue still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip lightly touching the back of the upper lower teeth, releasing a gentle dental affricate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: un rhymes with the un in 'unseen' or oo-n

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

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 is a steady, high-pitched flat tone, similar to a singer sustaining a single high note.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the unaspirated dental 'z' with the retroflex 'zh' or the aspirated 'c'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand flat and high at eye level, like holding a steady musical note on a violin.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

4. Components

Radical ⻌ · Walk Radical (Movement, travel, motion)

Semantic Clue (形旁): ⻌ (Indicates movement, following a path or course of action.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 尊 (original sound: zun)

A person standing tall showing respect (尊) while walking along (⻌) a designated path, meaning to obey or follow rules.

尊 Provides the phonetic sound and the semantic nuance of respect/reverence.
⻌ Walk radical supplying the meaning of moving along or following.

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the phonetic element 尊 (holding a wine vessel in respect) and the motion radical ⻌, originally denoting walking in accordance with propriety or following a route.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from literal physical adherence to a path or leader to the abstract legal and moral compliance with laws, rules, and instructions.

The component 尊 originally depicted two hands lifting a wine vessel (酉) to offer to ancestors, symbolizing utmost respect and honor.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

tuân

Mandarin Tone 1 corresponds to ngang tone in Sino-Vietnamese.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ジュン

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

준

Sound Shift Bridge: The Middle Chinese initial dental affricate and rhyme -un correspond regularly to Sino-Vietnamese 'tuân' and Japanese 'jun'.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You SHOW RESPECT (尊) as you WALK (⻌) along the righteous path, choosing to OBEY every rule.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

尊

zūnrespect, honoredBase phonetic component without the walking radical.

遵

zūnto obeyAdds the walking radical (⻌) to mean following rules on your path.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

尊(zūn)

尊 lacks the walking radical (⻌) and means 'respected' or 'honorific'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们开车时必须[___]交通规则。

Clue: zūn shǒu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character structure with 尊 by forgetting to include the surrounding walk radical ⻌ when writing from memory.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 遵 mean and how is its initial pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to obey' (zūn) using the walk radical and the respect component?

遵zūnto obey

Speed:

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