酵 (jiào) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

酵

jiào[jiao4]Tone 4

yeast

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · yeast

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (radical) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right side (孝) more spacious and vertically balanced.

1. Meaning

yeast, leaven, fermentation

to ferment

NounNeutralBound morpheme#food science#chemistry#baking

Sample Usage

发酵
fājiào
to ferment / fermentation
酵母
jiàomǔ
yeast

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯˥˩]/Tone: 51

酵

jiàojiao4

`(51)

=jiào

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

jiao

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

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j in jeep

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches the hard palate, releasing gently without an burst of air.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ee-ow combination

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

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 sharply to the bottom, mirroring an emphatic command or an angry 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (jiào - sharp drop) with Tone 2 (jiáo - rising). Keep the pitch firmly downward.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 is a sharp downward slash, like nodding 'yes' decisively or stepping off a curb.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (radical) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right side (孝) more spacious and vertically balanced.

4. Components

Radical 酉 · wine jar radical (alcohol, fermentation, wine)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 酉 (Indicates substances related to fermentation, wine, or chemical changes.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 孝 (original sound: xiào)

The wine jar radical (酉) on the left provides the meaning of fermentation and brewing, while the character for filial piety (孝) on the right provides the sound clue (jiào/xiào).

酉 wine jar / fermentation radical
孝 filial piety / phonetic component

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 孝 (xiào)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 酉 (wine jar representing fermentation) and 孝 (phonetic indicator), created to denote the agents and processes of leavening and fermenting.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to brewing and leavening agents; expanded in modern science to cover biological fermentation and general yeast products.

The radical 酉 originally depicted a clay wine vessel used in ancient China.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: コウ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

효

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To show deep filial piety (孝) toward your ancestors, you use a special wine jar (酉) to brew and ferment (jiào) the finest celebratory liquor.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

孝

xiàofilial pietyPhonetic Core (声旁)

教

jiàoto teach, instruct, religion+ 攵 (strike)

哮

xiàopant; roar+ 口 (mouth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

孝(xiào)

孝 lacks the left-hand wine jar radical (酉) and means filial piety.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

做面包需要用到[___]母。

Clue: jiào

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the 酉 radical on the left with similar radicals like 白 or 西, or mispronouncing the tone as a rising tone.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 酵 mean and what is its pronunciation?

Production: How do you write the character for yeast (jiào) using the wine jar radical?

酵jiàoyeast

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0