别 (biè): to make someone change their wa…

Meanings

1 to make someone change their ways or opinions (bound, in 别扭 / 闹别扭)

Characters

别

biè

to make someone change their ways or opinions (bound, in…

Examples

这双新鞋穿起来真别扭。

Zhè shuāng xīn xié chuān qǐlái zhēn bièniu.

These new shoes feel really awkward to wear.

他们俩闹别扭三天了。

Tāmen liǎ nào bièniu sān tiān le.

The two of them have been sulking for three days.

Tips

usage

The fourth-tone reading 别 is bound — it only appears inside 别扭 (awkward / uncomfortable / at odds) and the verb 闹别扭 (to have a falling-out, to sulk). Never standalone. Everywhere else 别 is second tone.

history

biè comes from a different ancestor character 彆 — originally a bow-correcting frame, hence 'to bend stubbornly / to twist contrarily'. The 1956 simplification merged 彆 into 别, but the traditional script and the dictionary tradition keep them separate, which is why this reading stays a true polyphone rather than a tone variant.

Components

radical

刂 dāo

knife (radical form)

Right knife radical — the indexing position. On the 别 reading it again carries no real semantic role; the character looks identical to its bié cousin because simplification collapsed the older 彆 form into the same modern shape. The radical home address is preserved for lookup, nothing more.

semantic

另 lìng

other; separate

Left 另 — on the 别 reading the visible structure carries no semantic load. The shape was inherited when 彆 (the bow-correcting frame) was simplified into 别. The 'separate' image of 另 belongs to the bié reading, not this one.