Character: 桌 (zhuō) table

桌
Pinyin zhuō
Meaning table; desk
Radical 木 繁體字 same
Two writing patterns can be found in the character 桌 (zhuō) table: 日, highlighted in red; and 木, highlighted in yellow 日
木

writing patterns, not components

Chinese character phono-semantic compoundcategory: phono-semantic compound

Chinese character up down structurestructure: up down

10stroke count

HSK 1

Stroke order of the Chinese character 桌 (zhuō) table. There are 10 strokes, and the character is written from top to bottom

Breakdown

桌 (zhuō) “table” is sometimes divided into three components, 卜 (bǔ) “divination,” 日 (rì) “sun,” and 木 (mù) “wood.” However, 桌 (zhuō) is actually a phono-semantic character that consists of only two parts, the phonetic component 卓 (zhuó) “outstanding” and the radical 木 (mù) “wood,” but some parts of 卓 (zhuó) overlaps with 木 (mù).

zhuō
桌
table		 zhuó
卓
outstanding		 diào
掉
to fall		 zhào
罩
cover
mù
木
wood		 xiào
校
school		 běn
本
origin
the phonetic component 卓 (zhuó) is hidden inside of 桌 (zhuō)
卓 (zhuó) “outstanding”		 the radical 木 (mù), meaning wood, merges with the phonetic component 卓 (zhuó)
木 (mù) “wood”

Used as a morpheme/word

桌 (zhuō) “table” is not used alone as a word. If it is not specified what kind of table it is, the suffix for noun 子 (zi) needs to be added to 桌 (zhuō).

Wordlist

  • HSK 1: 桌子 (zhuōzi) table
  • Basic: 书桌 (shūzhuō) desk
  • Intermediate: 餐桌 (cānzhuō) dining table
  • Intermediate: 圆桌 (yuánzhuō) round table
  • Intermediate: 桌布 (zhuōbù) tablecloth

How to pronounce

First say “jaw” in a British accent, then move the tip of your tongue backward while it is touching the roof. Once you can feel the slope, stop right there, hold still, and say “jaw” again.

text Pinyin Yale IPA
Initial zh- j [tʂ]
Final -uo wo [ʊo]

Chinese character practice sheet

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