HanziGuru.餵 · wèi
餵
wèi[wei4]Tone 4

to feed

HSK 2
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喂
Guru Deep Dive

English · to feed

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Topology:Left-right
Strokes:13
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical 口) takes up about one-third of the horizontal space, leaving the complex right phonetic side (胃) plenty of room to maintain its structural integrity without crowding.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 餵 uses the food radical 飠 on the left, while the modern simplified form 喂 replaces it with the standard mouth radical 口, reflecting its dual usage as an exclamation and a feeding action.
1. Meaning

to feed

to raisehello (phone greeting or exclamation)
Verb / InterjectionColloquial#action#caregiving#communication
Sample Usage
  • 喂猫
    wèi māo
    to feed the cat
  • 喂，请问你在哪儿？
    wèi, qǐng wèn nǐ zài nǎr?
    Hello, may I ask where you are?
2. Sound
/[weɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51
餵
wèiwei4
++
`(51)
=wèi
Initial Consonant
w
Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)
Sounds like: w sound like English w
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded, tongue back of mouth, gliding immediately into the vowel.
Final Rhyme
ei
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -ei rhymes with 'ay' in day
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ay'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T4 (51)
4th Tone (High-Falling)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down, exactly like shouting 'Hey!' or 'No!' in English when you want to stop someone.
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often confuse the falling tone of wèi (4th tone) with the rising tone of wéi (2nd tone), completely changing whether you are feeding an animal or answering the phone.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 4 drops sharply from high to low, like a quick, decisive command or calling out sharply to someone's attention.
3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical 口) takes up about one-third of the horizontal space, leaving the complex right phonetic side (胃) plenty of room to maintain its structural integrity without crowding.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 餵 uses the food radical 飠 on the left, while the modern simplified form 喂 replaces it with the standard mouth radical 口, reflecting its dual usage as an exclamation and a feeding action.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (Mouth, speaking, eating)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates actions involving the mouth, such as eating, feeding, or shouting into a phone.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 胃 (original sound: wèi)

The mouth radical (口) on the left pairs with the stomach character (胃) on the right. Together, putting food into someone's mouth nourishes their stomach.

  • 口 Mouth / radical indicating intake or vocal sound
  • 胃 Stomach / phonetic component providing the sound 'wèi'
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally formed as a phono_semantic compound where the mouth radical handles the semantic domain of verbal calls and eating, while 胃 provides the phonetic pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Over time, the character expanded from its primary agricultural and parenting sense of 'to feed' to also represent the ubiquitous telephone greeting 'Hello!' (喂).

  • The use of 喂 as a telephone greeting arose with the modernization of telecommunications in the 20th century.
6. Sinosphere
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

You open your MOUTH (口) to yell 'WEI!' into the phone, and at the same time you are feeding food down to your STOMACH (胃).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
胃
wèistomachWithout the mouth radical on the left, it refers strictly to the internal organ (stomach).
谓
wèito call / to tellReplaces the right side or pairs with speech radical (讠), meaning to speak or name.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
位(wèi)
位 uses the person radical (亻) instead of mouth (口) and means 'position' or acts as a polite measure word for people.
胃(wèi)
胃 lacks the mouth radical (口) and means 'stomach'.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
媽媽在廚房裡給小寶寶[___]飯。
Clue: wèi
Common Learner Pitfall

Learners often forget that 喂 has a 4th tone (falling) when used for feeding, but may accidentally pronounce it with a flat or rising tone when answering the phone due to native intonation habits.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the character 喂 with a mouth radical on the left, what are its two main meanings?
Production: How do you write the Chinese character meaning 'to feed' (wèi) using a mouth radical and a stomach component?
Real-World Video Context

Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.

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