腱 (jiàn) · tendon, sinew

Measure Word

一条肌腱 tiáo

Meanings

1 tendon
2 sinew

Characters

腱

jiàn

tendon

Examples

HSK 4

他的跟腱受伤了。

Tā de gēnjiàn shòushāng le.

He injured his Achilles tendon.

HSK 7-9

牛腱是炖汤的好材料。

Niújiàn shì dùn tāng de hǎo cáiliào.

Beef shank/tendon is a good ingredient for stews.

Tips

memory

腱 = 月 (flesh radical, body-part marker) + 建 (jiàn, phonetic, same as 'to build'). Tendons are what 'build' the connection between muscle and bone, and 建 gives you the reading for free.

usage

Common compounds: 跟腱 'Achilles tendon', 肌腱 'tendon (general)', 牛腱 'beef shank' (a popular braising cut). Don't confuse 腱 with 健 (jiàn 'healthy'), same phonetic 建, different radical.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; meat (left-side radical form of 肉)

Left flesh radical, the body-and-anatomy form of 肉 (looks identical to 月 'moon' but is etymologically meat). The indexing radical, anchoring 腱 in the anatomy family alongside 肌 (muscle), 脏 (organ), 腰 (waist), 脚 (foot). Anything labelling a body part almost always carries this radical.

phonetic

建 jiàn

to build; establish

Right 建 supplies the sound directly; jiàn matches the whole reading with no drift. Tendons are what 'build' and connect muscle to bone, so a faint semantic echo lives in the choice of phonetic. The same phonetic feeds 健 (healthy), 键 (key/button), 毽 (shuttlecock), all in the jiàn family.