鬥 (dòu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

鬥

dòu[dou4]Tone 4

to fight

HSK 4

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斗

Guru Deep Dive

English · to fight

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: Keep both sides balanced horizontally, ensuring the left and right interlocking elements mirror each other without crowding the center vertical axis.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form (鬥) depicts two men fighting back-to-back. The simplified form (斗) was merged with the unrelated homophone character 斗 (measuring scoop) in standard simplified Chinese usage for certain contexts, though 'dòu' retains the fighting meanings.

1. Meaning

to fight, to struggle, to contend

to censure or condemnto put together or assemblecoming together or encountering

VerbNeutral#action#conflict#competition

Sample Usage

他们俩在斗地主。
Tāmen liǎ zài dòudìzhǔ.
The two of them are playing 'Fighting the Landlord' (a card game).
我们要敢于和困难作斗争。
Wǒmen yào gǎnyú hé kùnnán zuò dòuzhēng.
We must dare to struggle against difficulties.

2. Sound

/[toʊ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

鬥

dòudou4

`(51)

=dòu

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound in English 'dog'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tap the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge right behind your upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: -ou rhymes with 'oh' or 'soul'

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

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 to the bottom, identical to a sharp command or an emphatic refusal in English.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse Tone 4 (dòu) with Tone 3 (dǒu - to shake/tremble), as changing the tone completely alters the meaning from fighting to shaking.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp karate chop downward from high to low, representing a sudden drop in pitch like an emphatic 'No!'

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 4 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep both sides balanced horizontally, ensuring the left and right interlocking elements mirror each other without crowding the center vertical axis.

4. Components

Radical 斗 · Dipper / Measuring Cup Radical (measuring peck, dipper)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 鬥 (Depicts two armed figures locked in combat)

Picture two opposing fighters facing off on either side, clashing weapons and grappling with each other.

十 cross or weapons clashing
丶 striking blows

5. History

Liushu category: Compound ideogram (会意)

Origin: Originally written as two people standing back-to-back or facing each other with weapons drawn, graphically representing a struggle or physical fight.

Semantic Evolution: From a literal physical brawl between two armed opponents, the meaning broadened to abstract struggles, card games (斗地主), and political struggle.

In ancient times, the character depicted martial rivalry and battlefield combat.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: トウ (tō) / Kun: たたか.う (tataka.u)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Two rival fighters (斗) stand face-to-face, throwing punches and shouting with sharp, falling anger (Tone 4) as they fight (dòu).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

都(dōu)

都 has the 阝 (city/settlement) radical on the right, meaning 'all/capital', whereas 斗 is about fighting.

豆(dòu)

豆 means 'bean' and has a flat base (口), whereas 斗 relates to fighting or measures.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他們倆因為一點小事吵起來了，甚至還動起手來[___]毆。

Clue: dòu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone with Tone 3 (dǒu - shake/steeper dipper), leading native speakers to think you are talking about trembling instead of fighting.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 斗/鬥 pronounced with a sharp falling tone (dòu), what core action does it represent?

Production: How do you write and pronounce the Mandarin word for 'to fight' or 'to struggle' using Tone 4?

鬥dòuto fight

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