鈴 meaning and stroke order
Small bell
How to write 鈴, stroke by stroke
13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 鈴
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (small) bell
How 鈴 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bell.
釒 gives the meaning and 令 hints at the sound.
Radical: 釒 (gold), shared by 135 characters on this site.
How to remember 鈴
The metal radical 釒 on the left tells you the object is made of metal, and 令 (lìng) on the right gives the sound líng. Picture a metal bell ringing out a command 令 for everyone to hear.
鈴 is the traditional form; mainland China writes it 铃. It rarely stands alone and usually appears in words like 门铃 (ménlíng, doorbell), 铃声 (língshēng, ringtone), and 铃铛 (língdang, little bell). Example: 门铃响了。 (Ménlíng xiǎng le.) The doorbell rang.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 鈴 with 玲 (líng), which has the jade radical and appears mostly in names and in 玲珑 (línglóng, exquisite). Another slip is reading it with the fourth tone of 令 (lìng), but 鈴 is second tone.
Common words with 鈴
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 鈴
How many strokes are in 鈴?
鈴 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鈴 mean?
鈴 (líng) means small bell. A common word with it is 铃声 (língshēng), meaning "ring; ringtone".
How do you pronounce 鈴?
鈴 is pronounced líng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 鈴?
The radical of 鈴 is 釒, which carries the idea of "gold". Dictionaries list 鈴 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 鈴?
鈴 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 铃, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does the word for potato, 马铃薯, contain the character for bell?
马铃薯 (mǎlíngshǔ) literally means horse bell tuber, because the round potato was thought to look like the bells hung on horses. In everyday speech many people also say 土豆 (tǔdòu).
Can I use 鈴 to talk about a big church or temple bell?
Usually not. 鈴 suggests a small bell or an electric ringer, while a large hanging bell is 钟 (zhōng), as in 钟声 (zhōngshēng, the sound of a bell).