English · unit of area equal to 100 mu or 6.67 hectares; a short while
Cached lesson
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Topology:Left-right
Strokes:10
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (亻) is narrow and compact, while the right side (頃) dominates the horizontal space. Keep the vertical stroke of the right component well-balanced.
Simplification Logic: The traditional character 頃 was simplified in mainland China to 顷, merging the right phonetic component into a simpler glyph structure while preserving the radical framework.
1. Meaning
unit of land area (equal to 100 mu or about 6.67 hectares)
a short whilea little while agocirca (used for approximate dates or times)
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Say it like:“ching”Close approximationTone pitch cue:dipping, like 'uh-huh'
Key difference: Mandarin q is aspirated alveolo-palatal [tɕʰ]; English 'ching' is postalveolar.
Initial Consonant
q
Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: ch sound like in 'cheese' but tongue flat and tip behind lower teeth
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Extremely strong burst of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST fly.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of tongue approaches hard palate, air bursts through sharply.
Final Rhyme
ing
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: -ing rhymes with 'sing'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'eeng'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T3 (214)
2 → 1 → 4 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips down and rises back up, matching the skeptical English questioning intonation 'Really?'.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, qǐng changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35) according to standard Mandarin third tone sandhi rules.
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Listening trap: Do not confuse the palatal 'q' with the retroflex 'zh' or the alveolar 'c'. It is pronounced further forward than 'c' and is strongly aspirated unlike 'j'.
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Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 3 dips low and rises back up, tracing a checkmark shape in the air: starting moderately high, dropping down to your chest, and soaring back up high.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (亻) is narrow and compact, while the right side (頃) dominates the horizontal space. Keep the vertical stroke of the right component well-balanced.
Simplification Logic: The traditional character 頃 was simplified in mainland China to 顷, merging the right phonetic component into a simpler glyph structure while preserving the radical framework.
4. Components
Radical亻 · Person Radical (Relating to people or human actions)
Semantic Clue (形旁):亻 (Indicates human involvement or scale in land division and time perception.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):页 (original sound: qing)
A person (亻) stands on a vast expanse of land measured in units (页), or looks at the passage of time in a brief moment.
亻 Person radical
页 Phonetic and structural component
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
2· Phonetic Root: 頃
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined a person element with phonetic indicators representing a large measurement or a tilted head/extent of land.
Semantic Evolution: Shifted from ancient land measurements and head tilt postures to standard agricultural land units (100 mu) and temporal extensions like a brief moment.
In ancient China, a 'qing' was a massive unit of agricultural land used for taxation and state planning.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
khoảnh
Mandarin Tone 3 corresponds roughly to Vietnamese hỏi tone.
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Kanji (Japanese)
On: ケイ
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
경
Sound Shift Bridge: The -ing final in Mandarin frequently bridges to -eng or -o/ei patterns in historical borrowings, matching Sino-Xenic readings.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A PERSON (亻) measures a vast PAGE (页) of land that stretches for one hundred acres, taking only a brief moment to walk across it.