Learn Chinese Characters 138 背

by Caren Zuo

背  ((bēi)  or  (bèi)




背 = 北 （a phonetic and semantic part meaning back）+
       月 （a semantic part related to meat ）

The character “北” originally means “break” or “act contrary”. Later it was specially used to refer to the direction “North”, and its original meaning was replaced by a new created character “背”.

The character “背” is also a part of men’s body, namely back.

It has two pronunciations, the first and the fourth tone. When it means “carry on the back”, it has the first tone. In other situations, it has the fourth tone.

Useful Phrases:

The first tone:
背包 (bēi bāo)backpack
背负 (bēi fù) carry on the back, have on one’s shoulder

The fourth tone:
背后 (bèi hòu) behind，in the back.
背景 (bèi jǐng)  background, stage setting
背诵  (bèi sòng) recite, repeat from memory
背影  (bèi yǐng )  figure viewed from the behind