背 (bèi): back (of a body or object)

Meanings

1 back (of a body or object)
2 to turn one's back
3 to recite from memory
4 to go against; to violate
5 unlucky
6 hard of hearing

Characters

背

bèi

back (of a body or object)

Examples

HSK 2

你要背这篇课文。

Nǐ yào bèi zhè piān kèwén.

You need to recite this text.

HSK 3

我今天背很痛。

Wǒ jīntiān bèi hěn tòng.

My back really hurts today.

HSK 5

爷爷耳朵有点背，说大声点。

Yéye ěrduo yǒudiǎn bèi, shuō dàshēng diǎn.

Grandpa is a little hard of hearing - speak louder.

Tips

usage

Fourth-tone 背 is the noun 'back' (body or object) plus a family of verbs that radiate from it: turn-one's-back-on (背叛), go-against (违背), and recite (背诵 - students traditionally faced away from the teacher to recite). The slang senses 'unlucky' and 'hard of hearing' are also fourth tone.

culture

背书 literally 'recite-book' is a defining ritual of Chinese schooling: students memorise classical poems and textbook passages word-for-word. The same word now also means 'to endorse' (sign one's name on the back) in finance and politics.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; body

Bottom ⺼ is the flesh radical (a variant of 肉), visually identical to the moon character but semantically a body marker. Groups 背 with the anatomy family: 胸, 腰, 肩, 肚.

phonetic

北 běi

north; back-to-back

Top 北 supplies the sound (běi shifts to bèi here) and the original picture: two people standing back-to-back. Hence 背 literally names 'the body part that 北 depicts' - your back.