Writing Balance Rule: The left side (鼠 radical) is wide and complex, so keep the right side (分) compact and vertically aligned to prevent the character from looking split.
1. Meaning
mole (burrowing rodent)
found almost exclusively in the compound 鼢鼠 (mole)
NounFormalBound morpheme#animals#nature#rodents
Sample Usage
田鼠和鼢鼠都是地下活动的动物。
tiánshǔ hé fénshǔ dōu shì dìxià huódòng de dòngwù.
Voles and mole-rats are both subterranean animals.
鼢鼠在土里打洞。
fénshǔ zài tǔ lǐ dǎ dòng.
The mole digs tunnels in the earth.
2. Sound
/[fən³⁵]/Tone: 35
鼢
fénfen2
|
++
´(35)
=fén
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
fen
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
f
Type: Labiodental Fricative
Sounds like: f sound as in 'fun'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Continuous smooth friction.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Labiodental: upper teeth gently touch the lower lip, continuously blowing air.
Final Rhyme
en
Vowel Group: -e vowel group
Sounds like: -en rhymes with 'un' in run
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'uhn'.
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 mid to high pitch, matching the exact pitch contour of an English question like 'Huh?' or 'What?'.
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2 syllable, the tone shifts to a rising contour that starts slightly lower, similar to standard Mandarin tone sandhi rules.
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse 'fén' with 'fēn' (Tone 1) or 'fèn' (Tone 4). The rising Tone 2 requires your voice to glide upward smoothly.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A quick upward stroke of the hand, like shrugging your shoulders and asking 'Fun?' with surprise.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 16 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (鼠 radical) is wide and complex, so keep the right side (分) compact and vertically aligned to prevent the character from looking split.
4. Components
Radical鼠 · Rat Radical (Rat, mouse, rodent)
Semantic Clue (形旁):鼠 (Indicates that this creature is a rodent / rat-like animal.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):分 (original sound: fēn / fén)
The character combines the rat radical (鼠) on the left, showing its animal nature, with the phonetic component 'to divide/part' (分) on the right, which hints at the pronunciation 'fén'.
鼠 Signifies a rodent or mouse-like creature
分 Provides the phonetic sound 'fén'
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
19· Phonetic Root: 分 (fèn)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: A later compound character created by combining the semantic category of rodents (鼠) with a phonetic sound provider (分) to classify a specific burrowing mole-like rodent.
Semantic Evolution: Has consistently referred to burrowing underground rodents like the zokor or mole across historical texts.
Included in classical fauna dictionaries to differentiate subterranean rodents from regular mice.
6. Sinosphere
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: フン
Sound Shift Bridge: Shared root phonetic structures across East Asian lexical borrowings, though rare in modern daily standalone use.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A subterranean rodent (鼠) uses a tiny shovel to DIVIDE (分) the dirt underground, tunneling away like a mole (鼢).
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
分
fènpart, share, componentPhonetic Core (声旁)
纷
fēnnumerous+ 纟 (silk)
扮
bànto disguise oneself as, dress up, play a role+ 扌 (hand)