避 (bì) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

避

bì[bi4]Tone 4

to avoid, escape, keep away from

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · to avoid, escape, keep away from

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:16

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the movement component) is narrower, while the right side (the phonetic component 辟) is wider and must be neatly balanced to prevent the character from feeling lopsided.

1. Meaning

to avoid or keep away from something dangerous or unpleasant

to shunto fleeto escapeto hide from

VerbNeutral#action#movement#safety#strategy

Sample Usage

我们要避开高峰期出门。
Wǒmen yào bì kāi gāofēngqí chūmén.
We need to avoid the rush hour when going out.
遇到困难不要逃避。
Yù dào kùnnán bú yào táobì.
When encountering difficulties, do not run away from them.

2. Sound

/[pi⁵¹]/Tone: 51

避

bìbi4

`(51)

=bì

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: b sound as in boy

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Both lips pressed firmly together and then released cleanly.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound as in see

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

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 plunges straight down like an emphatic 'No!' or a sharp command.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the 4th tone (bì) with the 2nd tone (bí), missing the downward drop in pitch.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp karate chop downward, matching the abrupt descending pitch of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 16 strokes

4. Components

Radical 辶 · Walking Radical (movement, motion, road)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 辶 (indicates physical movement away from something)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 辟 (original sound: bì)

You are moving away (辶) from a legal/ruling decree or trouble (辟), which means to avoid or escape.

辶 walk / movement
辟 law / open / phonetic indicator

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

22· Phonetic Root: 辟 (bì)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the walking radical (辶) to signify motion and 辟 to provide the sound and an association with breaking away or clearing out.

Semantic Evolution: From the idea of stepping aside or clearing a path away from danger, it evolved into general verbs for avoiding, shunning, and escaping.

The right component 辟 originally depicted a person with a criminal punishment or legal decree, symbolizing things one might want to step away from.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

tỵ

Vietnamese tone matches a heavy falling or dipping register depending on historical class.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ヒ (hi) / Kun: さ.ける (sa.keru)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

피

Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'b' corresponds historically to initial labials in related Sino-Xenic readings.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You start walking away quickly (辶) because a royal decree or trouble is coming straight at you, forcing you to AVOID (bì) it completely.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

辟

bìlaw, wall, ruleBase phonetic component without the walking radical.

壁

bìwallAdds the earth radical (土) at the bottom for a physical wall.

臂

bìarmAdds the moon/flesh radical (月) at the bottom for the human arm.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

壁(bì)

壁 has the earth/soil radical (土) at the bottom meaning a wall, whereas 避 has the walking radical (辶) meaning to move away.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

为了安全，我们应该[___]危险的地方。

Clue: bì

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 避 (bì - to avoid) with 壁 (bì - wall) due to the identical phonetic right-hand side 辟.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 避 mean and what is its Pinyin with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to avoid' (bì) using the walking radical?

避bìto avoid, escape, keep away from

Speed:

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