醋 (cù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

醋

cù[cu4]Tone 4

vinegar

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · vinegar

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the wine/alcohol radical 酉) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (昔) provides structural weight balance with its horizontal layering.

1. Meaning

vinegar

jealousy in romantic relationships

NounNeutral#food and condiments#emotions

Sample Usage

这道菜放了太多醋。
Zhè dào cài fàng le tài duō cù.
This dish has too much vinegar in it.
他看到女朋友和别人说话，就开始吃醋了。
Tā kàn dào nǚ péngyou hé biérén shuōhuà, jiù kāishǐ chī cù le.
He saw his girlfriend talking to someone else and started getting jealous.

2. Sound

/[t͡sʰu⁵¹]/Tone: 51

醋

cùcu4

`(51)

=cù

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts sound like the ending of 'cats'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Sharp burst of air through teeth! Tissue MUST flutter strongly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip rests lightly behind lower front teeth, ready to release a sharp burst of air

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot'

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

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 sharply down, exactly like shouting a sudden command or the English word 'NO!' in frustration.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'cù' (with a strong 'ts' sound) with 'sù' (with an 's' sound) or 'tù' (with a pure 't' sound).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful chop downward with your hand, mirroring a stern 'No!' or a sudden drop from high to low.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (the wine/alcohol radical 酉) is slightly narrower and taller, while the right side (昔) provides structural weight balance with its horizontal layering.

4. Components

Radical 酉 · Wine or Alcohol Radical (Alcohol, fermentation, vessels)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 酉 (indicates fermented liquids and food processing)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 昔 (original sound: xī / cu)

Fermented alcohol (酉) mixed over a long time (昔) turns sour into vinegar (醋).

酉 Fermented liquor or jar radical
昔 Past time, ancient, old (phonetic and semantic hint of aging)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 酉 (wine jar / fermentation) and 昔 (formerly / past), representing wine that has aged or turned sour over time, creating vinegar.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring strictly to fermented sour condiment (vinegar), it later metaphorically extended in Chinese culture to mean 'jealousy' because sourness is associated with bitterness and jealousy in romantic rivalry (吃醋 - eating vinegar).

The phrase 'eating vinegar' (吃醋) to mean jealousy dates back to the Tang Dynasty stories about imperial concubines.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: サク (saku) / Kun: す (su)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

초

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine an old clay jar of wine (酉) left sitting in the back room since ancient times (昔). When you finally open it, it has turned completely sour into sharp, pungent vinegar (醋), making your face pucker in jealousy and shock!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

错

cuòmistake, wrongUses the metal radical (钅) instead of the wine radical (酉).

借

jièto borrow, to lendUses the person radical (亻) on the left.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

错(cuò)

错 has the metal/gold radical (钅) meaning metal errors/flaws, whereas 醋 has the wine/alcohol jar radical (酉) because vinegar is a fermented liquid.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这盘饺子太酸了，多放了一点___。

Clue: cù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character 醋 with 错 (cuò - wrong) due to similar phonetic components on the right side.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What is the English meaning of 醋 and what does the expression '吃醋' metaphorically mean?

Production: How do you write the Chinese character for 'vinegar' (cù) and what is its radical?

醋cùvinegar

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