低
Character Story & Explanation
低 is widely used in modern Chinese: in weather reports (低温 dī wēn — 'low temperature'), business (低价 dī jià — 'low price'), and everyday speech (声音低 shēngyīn dī — 'voice is low'). A famous idiom is 低声下气 (dī shēng xià qì), meaning 'to speak humbly and meekly', reflecting how 'low voice' symbolizes deference — documented in Ming-Qing vernacular literature and still common today.
The character evolved from seal script, where 低 clearly combined 亻 (person) and 底 (bottom) — not a pictograph, but a logical semantic-phonetic compound. Its form has remained stable since the Han dynasty. No oracle bone form exists; earliest attestation is in early clerical script (2nd century BCE), consistently representing 'to lower' or 'low position'.
Hi students! Let’s learn the character 低 (dī), which means 'low' — like low height, low volume, or low price. It’s an HSK Level 4 character, so it appears often in intermediate textbooks and daily conversations. Notice its left-side radical 亻 (rén bàng), meaning 'person' — this hints that 低 originally described a person’s posture: bending or lowering oneself. That makes sense — when you bow your head or crouch, you’re physically 'lowering' yourself.
The right side is 底 (dǐ), meaning 'bottom' or 'base', but here it serves as a phonetic component (though pronunciation shifted slightly from dǐ to dī). This structure — semantic radical + phonetic hint — is common in Chinese characters. Don’t worry if the sound isn’t exact; many phonetics are approximate. What matters is recognizing patterns: 亻 + something = often relates to people’s actions or states.
Remember: 低 is *not* used for abstract 'low' in moral senses (like 'low character') — that’s usually 卑 (bēi) or 恶 (è). Instead, 低 describes measurable, physical, or quantifiable lowness: low temperature, low voice, low rank, low expectations. Practice writing it with 7 strokes in order: first the person radical (two strokes), then the four horizontal/vertical lines of the right part, and finally the dot. Say 'dī' clearly — like 'dee' with a flat, level tone!
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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