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蒙

méng / mēng / Měng
verb HSK 6 #2,830

Meanings

  1. 1 to cover; to put a cover on
  2. 2 to receive (a favor); to be granted
  3. 3 to suffer (a misfortune); to be subjected to
  4. 4 ignorant; uncultured

Examples

她用手蒙住了眼睛。
Tā yòng shǒu méngzhù le yǎnjing.
She covered her eyes with her hands.
承蒙您的支持，我们非常感激。
Chéngméng nín de zhīchí, wǒmen fēicháng gǎnjī.
We are truly grateful for your support.
他蒙冤多年才得到公正的审判。
Tā méngyuān duōnián cái dédào gōngzhèng de shěnpàn.
He was wrongly accused and only got a fair hearing years later.

Tips

usage
The méng reading (rising tone) is the literary / formal cluster: (1) physical covering - 蒙住 (cover up), 蒙面 (mask up), 蒙版 (layer mask in Photoshop); (2) receiving - 承蒙 ('to receive with gratitude', formal letter opener); (3) suffering - 蒙受 (sustain a loss), 蒙冤 (be wronged); (4) enlightenment / ignorance - 启蒙 (to enlighten - literally 'lift the cover'), 蒙昧 (uncivilised). All foreign-name transliterations (Edmond, Simon, Raymond, Hammond, Vermont, Montgomery, Mona Lisa) also take méng.
memory
The three readings unify through one image: a creeping vine covering a hidden boar. Cover → méng (literal). Cover-the-truth → mēng (deceive, dazed). Cover-the-grassland → 蒙古 (the steppe people, named for the grass-covered plains). Same character, three pronunciations, one picture.

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant (top radical)
Top indexing grass radical 艹 - the compressed three-stroke form of 艸. Carries the meaning core of 蒙: the original sense was 'a creeping vine covering everything,' from which 'to cover' generalised. Anchors 蒙 in the plant family alongside 草, 花, 茶, 莫 - and supplies the picture of a leafy spread overlaying a hidden creature below.
semantic
冖 mì
cover
Middle cover 冖 (Kangxi #14) - a horizontal canopy. Reinforces the radical: not just plants spreading on top, but a deliberate covering action. Carries the metaphorical extension to 'deceive / cover the truth' (蒙骗) - putting a veil over what should be clear.
semantic
豕 shǐ
pig
Bottom 豕 (Kangxi #152) - pig under cover under foliage. The original picture was a wild boar hidden in undergrowth; classical Chinese lore held that boars curled up under brush were impossible to see, hence both 'covered up' and 'unable to discern' (蒙昧 ignorant, 启蒙 enlightenment = lifting the cover). Same animal in 家, 豪.

Stroke Order

蒙 méng