韵 (yùn) · rhyme, charm, appeal

Meanings

1 rhyme
2 charm
3 appeal
4 lingering grace
5 the final of a syllable

Characters

韵

yùn

rhyme / charm / lingering grace

Examples

HSK 7-9

这首诗押韵工整。

Zhè shǒu shī yāyùn gōngzhěng.

This poem has perfectly regular rhymes.

HSK 7-9

她的举止有一种古典的韵味。

Tā de jǔzhǐ yǒu yī zhǒng gǔdiǎn de yùnwèi.

There is a classical charm to her manner.

Tips

usage

韵 covers two key senses: (1) phonological - the rhyme or final of a Chinese syllable; (2) aesthetic - lingering charm or artistic grace: 韵味 (aesthetic charm), 韵律 (rhythm), 神韵 (divine grace).

Components

radical

音 yīn

sound; tone

Left side 音 'sound' is the indexing radical, picturing a mouth (口) sending a vibration upward through 立 (stand). Anchors 韵 firmly in the sound-and-music family - rhyme, melody, lingering tonal grace. Same radical heads 章 (chapter, originally a musical division), 韶 (court music).

phonetic

匀 yún

even; balanced

Right side 匀 supplies the sound (yún to yùn after tone shift) and a small semantic bonus: 'evenly distributed.' A rhyme is exactly that - a sound returning at evenly measured points in a line of verse. Same phonetic appears in 均 (uniform), 钧 (heavy weight).