撇

piē, piě

扌 + 敝

HSK 2.0Level 6

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

piě (noun) left-slanting downward brush stroke

piē (verb) to cast aside; to throw away

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 敝 represents the sound.

Semantic: 扌 Phonetic: 敝

About

The Chinese character 撇 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 扌 (hand) indicates an action, while the phonetic component 敝 provides the pronunciation. Its original meaning was to throw away, cast aside, or discard, derived from a hand action. Over time, the meaning expanded to include the action of skimming a substance off a liquid’s surface. In calligraphy and typography, 撇 also serves as the noun for a left-falling stroke, one of the fundamental brush movements in character composition.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

她撇嘴表示生气。

tā piě zuǐ biǎo shì shēng qì.

She pouted to show anger.

请撇开个人情绪。

qǐng piē kāi gè rén qíng xù.

Please put aside personal emotions.

他撇下了所有负担。

tā piē xià le suǒ yǒu fù dān.

He cast off all burdens.

写毛笔字时要注意撇的画法。

xiě máo bǐ zì shí yào zhù yì piě de huà fǎ.

When writing brush characters, pay attention to the stroke of "撇".

他毫不犹豫地撇弃了旧习惯。

tā háo bù yóu yù de piē qì le jiù xí guàn.

He without hesitation abandoned old habits.

在讨论中，我们暂且撇开细节问题。

zài tǎo lùn zhōng, wǒ men zàn qiě piē kāi xì jié wèn tí.

In the discussion, we temporarily put aside the detailed issues.

她试图撇清自己与那件事的关系。

tā shì tú piē qīng zì jǐ yǔ nà jiàn shì de guān xì.

She tried to disassociate herself from that matter.

尽管困难重重，但他从未撇下自己的责任。

jǐn guǎn kùn nán chóng chóng, dàn tā cóng wèi piē xià zì jǐ de zé rèn.

Despite numerous difficulties, he never cast aside his responsibilities.

Related Characters

Component: 扌

Component: 敝

撇