HanziGuru.鼴 · yǎn
鼴
yǎn[yan3]Tone 3

mole

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鼹
Guru Deep Dive

English · mole

Cached lesson
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Topology:Left-right
Strokes:23
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (鼠) is complex and compressed, while the right side (菤) provides structural balance with its winding lower section.
Simplification Logic: Traditional 鼴 simplifies to 鼹 by standardizing the right-side phonetic component components for modern handwriting efficiency.
1. Meaning

mole (the burrowing mammal)

blind burrower
NounFormal#animals#nature#mammals
Sample Usage
  • 土拨鼠和鼹鼠在地下挖洞。
    tǔ bō shǔ hé yǎn shǔ zài dì xià wā dòng.
    Marmots and moles dig tunnels underground.
  • 鼹鼠是一种小型哺乳动物。
    yǎn shǔ shì yī zhǒng xiǎo xíng bǔ rǔ dòng wù.
    The mole is a small mammal.
2. Sound
/[jan²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
鼴
yǎnyan3
++
ˇ(214)
=yǎn
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
yan
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
y
Type: Glide (y)
Sounds like: y as a semi-vowel glide like 'y' in 'yes'
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue body raises toward the hard palate for the initial glide.
Final Rhyme
an
Vowel Group: -a vowel group
Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' or 'an' in 'father' + 'n'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ahn'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T3 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 starts mid, dips low into the throat, and rises back up, resembling an incredulous 'What?' in English.
Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, yǎn changes to a 2nd tone (yán).
👂
Listening trap: Do not confuse with yān (smoke/tobacco) which uses the 1st tone high level.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from chest level and sweep up high.
3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 23 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (鼠) is complex and compressed, while the right side (菤) provides structural balance with its winding lower section.

Simplification Logic: Traditional 鼴 simplifies to 鼹 by standardizing the right-side phonetic component components for modern handwriting efficiency.

4. Components

Radical 鼠 · Rat Radical (rat, mouse, rodent)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 鼠 (indicates that the creature is a rodent-like burrowing animal)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 菤 (original sound: juǎn / yǎn sound phonetic clue)

The character combines the rat radical (鼠) on the left, showing it is a rodent, with the phonetic component (菤) on the right, providing the yǎn sound.

  • 鼠 Radical meaning rodent or mouse
  • 菤 Phonetic indicator providing the sound yǎn
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: A later compound character created by pairing the radical for rodent (鼠) with a phonetic sound provider to categorize the blind underground mammal.

Semantic Evolution: Has consistently referred to subterranean burrowing moles across dynastic botanical and zoological texts.

  • Traditional Chinese zoology grouped moles closely with mice and rats due to their subterranean habits and small size.
6. Sinosphere
Sound Shift Bridge: English speakers can anchor the sound to the English name of the animal (mole) while remembering the native Chinese term yǎn shǔ.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story

A blind rat (鼠) wearing a roll (菤) of bandages over its eyes tunnels underground like a mole.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
匽
yǎnto hide, to secrete, to repress; to bendPhonetic Core (声旁)
偃
yǎnsurname Yan; to lie supine+ 亻 (person)
堰
yànweir+ 土 (earth)
揠
yàto eradicate; to pull up+ 扌 (hand)
Explore this family →
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
眼(yǎn)
眼 has the eye radical (目) for vision, whereas 鼹 has the rat radical (鼠) for the animal mole.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
這只[___]在花園的草坪下面挖了許多洞。
Clue: yǎn
Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character with 眼 (yǎn, eye) due to identical pronunciation and similar visual complexity.

Memory Prompts
Recognition: What animal does the character 鼹 represent and what is its radical?
Production: How do you write the character for 'mole' (yǎn) combining the rat radical and phonetic part?
Real-World Video Context

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

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