wèi / wéi
interjection HSK 2 #315

Meanings

  1. 1 hey
  2. 2 to feed (an animal, baby, invalid)

Examples

HSK 1
Wèi, bié zǒu!
Hey, don't go!
HSK 4
Tā zhèngzài gěi bǎobao wèi nǎi.
She is breastfeeding the baby.
HSK 7-9
Nóngmín měitiān zǎowǎn wèi shēngchù.
The farmer feeds the livestock morning and evening every day.

Tips

usage
As a verb, covers feeding a being that can't feed itself - an animal, infant, or sick person. For someone feeding themselves use . As a shout it's the attention-grab equivalent of English 'hey!' - sharp, can read as rude depending on tone.
memory
Bound in feeding compounds: 喂养 (raise/feed long-term), 喂奶 (breastfeed), 喂药 (administer medicine), 饲喂 (feed livestock). Mouth radical on the left + spoon-to-mouth image makes the 'put food in' sense stick.

Components

radical
kǒu
mouth
Left mouth radical - the indexing radical, anchoring as both a vocal call and the act of putting food in a mouth. reliably marks attention-getting interjections shouted at someone: , , , .
phonetic
wèi
fear; respect
Right side supplies the sound - an exact phonetic borrow with no tone shift in the feeding sense. The 'fear' meaning of contributes nothing to the calling-out or feeding sense; it is here purely for sound.

Stroke Order

wèi