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tongue

shé
6 strokes · 舌 — pictograph: a tongue extended from a mouth · HSK 3

What 舌 is made of

+ =
thousand qiān
mouth kǒu

Where 舌 comes from

A tongue reaching out of an open mouth 口, the forked upper strokes marking its tip. Every character about speaking, tasting and licking keeps it: 话 (speech), 甜 (sweet, tongue plus sweetness), 舔 (to lick).

舌 in Chinese culture

舌头 is the tongue, and like in English it stands for speech itself: 口舌 means a quarrel, and 七嘴八舌 ('seven mouths, eight tongues') is everyone talking at once. 舌战 — a tongue battle — is a debate fought hard.

Example

舌头 shétou — tongue

我咬到舌头了。
Wǒ yǎo dào shétou le.
I bit my tongue.

How to remember it

A TONGUE sticking out of a mouth — the mouth 口 is right there at the bottom.

甜 (sweet) is a tongue 舌 next to 甘 (sweetness) — the taste is written as the organ that tastes it.

Same sound, different tones

1st shē
extravagant
2nd shé
tongue
3rd shě
to give up
4th shè
society

Words unlocked by 舌

舌头 shétou
tongue
口舌 kǒushé
a quarrel; words

Related characters

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