隔 (gé) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

隔

gé[ge2]Tone 2

to separate

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · to separate

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (阝) is narrower and slightly lower, while the right side (啬) is wider with dense horizontal stacking, maintaining overall structural harmony without leaning.

1. Meaning

to separate, to partition, to stand or lie between

at a distance fromafter or at an interval of (time or space)

VerbNeutral#space#time#relations#barriers

Sample Usage

我们家隔壁住着一位医生。
wǒ men jiā gé bì zhù zhe yí wèi yī shēng.
A doctor lives next door to our house.
隔壁房间很安静。
gé bì fáng jiān hěn ān jìng.
The next room is very quiet.

2. Sound

/[kɤ³⁵]/Tone: 35

隔

gége2

´(35)

=gé

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Velar

Sounds like: g sound like 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 to make contact with the soft palate

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: eh sound as in 'duh' or 'ago'

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

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises from middle to high pitch, mirroring an inquisitive English inflection.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the neutral sound with the rising Tone 2 pitch, making sure not to drop it.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 starts at a mid pitch and rises sharply upward, like asking a surprised question 'What?!' in English.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

4. Components

Radical 阝 · left mound radical (duō) (mound, dam, place, or boundary)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 阝 (indicates a place, wall, or barrier separating locations)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 啬 (original sound: sè / gé)

The left side is the mound/wall radical (阝), representing a barrier or earthwork. The right side is '啬' (sè, frugal/stint), providing the sound and a hint of keeping things restricted or fenced off.

阝 mound or wall
啬 phonetic clue and sense of keeping restricted

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

7· Phonetic Root: 鬲 (gé)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the mound/wall radical (阝) representing geographical separation and a phonetic component indicating sound and restriction.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to partitioning or separating spaces by walls or mounds, later generalized to intervals of time or distance between things.

The mound radical originally depicted steps on a hill, evolving to signify boundaries and barriers.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

cách

Mandarin rising tone maps to Vietnamese sắc or similar checked tones depending on historical phonetic developments.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カク / Kun: 隔.てる, 隔.たる

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

격

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A high earthen MOUND (阝) stands as a strict barrier, making sure that what is behind it is strictly GATED and SEPARATED (gé) from the outside world.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

融

róngto melt, harmonizeUses insect/wug component on the right instead of 啬.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

阁(gé)

Uses the gate radical (门) instead of the mound radical (阝), usually referring to a pavilion or cabinet.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我家[___]壁住着一位新邻居。

Clue: gé

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical 阝 with the right-side version (阝 when on the right is z邑, city), which changes character meanings entirely.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 隔 mean when you see it in 隔壁 (gé bì)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to separate' (gé) using the mound radical?

隔géto separate

Speed:

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