鈣 (gài) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

鈣

gài[gai4]Tone 4

calcium

HSK 7

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钙

Guru Deep Dive

English · calcium

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left metal radical (钅) is narrower and compressed, while the right phonetic component (丐) is wider and balanced to prevent the character from leaning.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 鈣 by replacing the traditional 金 radical on the left with the simplified metal radical 钅.

1. Meaning

calcium (chemical element)

metal element with symbol Ca

NounNeutral#chemistry#science#metals#minerals

Sample Usage

多喝牛奶可以补充钙。
duō hē niúnǎi kěyǐ bǔchōng gài.
Drinking more milk can supplement calcium.
骨头含有丰富的钙质。
gǔtóu hányǒu fēngfù de gàizhì.
Bones contain abundant calcium.

2. Sound

/[kaɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

鈣

gàigai4

`(51)

=gài

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

gai

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 Velar

Sounds like: g sound in 'go'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air (sounds like 'c' in Vietnamese 'cá' or 'k' in English 'skate').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue raised against the soft palate

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ai rhymes with 'eye'

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

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 abruptly, much like saying 'No!' or 'Stop!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the fourth tone (falling) with the first or third tone, making it sound like gāi or gǎi.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful downward karate chop, starting high and plunging straight down to represent the high falling tone.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left metal radical (钅) is narrower and compressed, while the right phonetic component (丐) is wider and balanced to prevent the character from leaning.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 鈣 by replacing the traditional 金 radical on the left with the simplified metal radical 钅.

4. Components

Radical 钅 · Metal radical (metal, mineral)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 钅 (Indicates that calcium is a metallic chemical element.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 丐 (original sound: gài)

The metal radical (钅) teams up with the phonetic component 'beggar' (丐) to form the chemical element calcium.

钅 Metal radical indicating chemical elements of metals
丐 Provides the pronunciation gài

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 丐 (gài)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: A modern scientific coinage created during the westernization of Chinese chemistry nomenclature in the late Qing or early Republican era. It pairs the metal radical (钅) with 丐 for sound.

Semantic Evolution: Created specifically to translate the Western chemical element 'calcium' into Chinese.

Invented as part of the systematic creation of Chinese characters for chemical elements, where metallic elements received the metal radical.

6. Sinosphere

Sound Shift Bridge: Modern scientific loan creation; no traditional historical sound shift applies.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To build strong bones, the metal (钅) beggar (丐) asks you for milk containing calcium.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

丐

gàivariant of 丐[gai4]Phonetic Core (声旁)

钙

gàicalcium+ 钅 (metal)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

芥(jiè)

Has the grass radical (艹) instead of the metal radical (钅), meaning mustard.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

喝牛奶可以補充身體所需的[___]。

Clue: gài

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the metal radical 钅 with the gold radical 金 in writing, or mispronouncing the fourth tone as a third tone.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What is the English meaning of 钙 and how is it pronounced?

Production: How do you write the character for 'calcium' using the metal radical and phonetic component?

鈣gàicalcium

Speed:

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