頸 meaning and stroke order
Neck, throat
How to write 頸, stroke by stroke
16 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 頸
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- neck
- used in 脖頸|脖颈[bo2 geng3]
How 頸 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Head.
頁 gives the meaning and 巠 hints at the sound.
Radical: 頁 (page), shared by 45 characters on this site.
How to remember 頸
頸 is built from 頁 (yè), which here means head, plus 巠 (jīng), which gives the sound. Picture the part right under the head that sounds like jīng: the neck, jǐng.
頸 (simplified 颈) is the more formal or written word for neck, common in compounds like 颈部 (jǐngbù) and 长颈鹿 (chángjǐnglù, giraffe). In everyday speech people usually say 脖子 (bózi). Example: 这里是交通的瓶颈。(Zhèlǐ shì jiāotōng de píngjǐng.) This is the traffic bottleneck.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 頸 (jǐng) with 經/经 (jīng, to pass through), since both use 巠 on the right. Remember that 頁 (head) means a body part, while 糸/纟 (silk) means threads and processes. Also note that 頸 has a third tone, not the first tone of 經.
Common words with 頸
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 頸
How many strokes are in 頸?
頸 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 頸 mean?
頸 (jǐng) means neck, throat. A common word with it is 颈部 (jǐngbù), meaning "neck".
How do you pronounce 頸?
頸 is pronounced jǐng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 頸?
The radical of 頸 is 頁, which carries the idea of "page". Dictionaries list 頸 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 頸?
頸 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 颈, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why is 脖颈 read bógěng and not bójǐng?
In the word 脖颈 (bógěng), meaning the back of the neck, the character takes the special reading gěng. Everywhere else it is read jǐng.
What is the difference between 颈 and 脖子?
Both mean neck. 脖子 (bózi) is the everyday spoken word, while 颈 appears in formal, medical, and figurative compounds such as 颈动脉 (jǐngdòngmài, carotid artery) and 瓶颈 (píngjǐng, bottleneck).