臼 (jiù) · mortar (for pounding grain), anything mortar-shaped

Measure Word

一个石臼 gè

Meanings

1 mortar (for pounding grain)
2 anything mortar-shaped

Characters

臼

jiù

mortar

Examples

HSK 6

牙医告诉我有一颗臼齿坏了。

Yáyī gàosu wǒ yǒu yī kē jiùchǐ huài le.

The dentist told me one of my molars has gone bad.

HSK 7-9

古人用石臼舂米。

Gǔrén yòng shí jiù chōng mǐ.

People in ancient times used stone mortars to pound rice.

Tips

memory

The character 臼 is itself a pictograph of a mortar - the four small strokes inside represent grain. Its molar-shaped hollow gives the medical term 臼齿 ('mortar-tooth' = molar).

usage

As a free word, 臼 is mostly literary/historical. Common compounds: 石臼 (stone mortar), 臼齿 (molar), 杵臼 (pestle and mortar), 跳出窠臼 ('jump out of the rut' - break a stale pattern).

Components

pictograph

臼 jiù

mortar

A direct drawing of a stone mortar viewed from above - the rectangular bowl with grain marks inside. 臼 is Kangxi radical 134 and appears as a recognisable component inside 舀 (scoop), 舅 (mother's brother, originally one who pounds rice for guests), 鼠 (rat, gnawing at the grain bin). Not decomposable into smaller meaningful parts.

Radical

Mortar Kangxi #134

The mortar radical. A pictograph of a hollowed-out grain mortar with the inner strokes representing kernels being pounded. Indexes a small but meaningful set: 舂 (to pound rice), 舅 (mother's brother, originally an in-law term), 舊 (the traditional 'old'). Low overall productivity in modern characters.