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破音字

Mandarin · pinyin pò yīn zì

character with two or more readings
character where different readings convey different meanings (Tw)

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Characters in this entry

破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
音: yīn · sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation; Kangxi radical 180
字: zì · letter, character, word

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4 · po4 yin1 zi4

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

po3 jam1 zi6

Cantonese word readings for 破音字. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(Chinese linguistics) a heteronym (character with multiple readings) where the pronunciation variant is due to a new grammatical or semantic function
(in general) a heteronym (character with multiple readings)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack