How to Write 誊 (téng) — Meaning “to copy; to transcribe”

Imagine you have a speech (言) that you need to copy by rolling it into a scroll (龹). This visual of rolling a speech scroll helps you remember that 誊 means 'to transcribe' or 'to copy out'.

Write the top 言 first (7 strokes), then the bottom 龹 (6 strokes). The bottom part starts with a horizontal line, two dots underneath, and then the shape resembling 豕 (pig) without the top stroke; a common mistake is to confuse it with 券 (quàn) which has a '刀' (knife) component instead of the 'pig' shape.

Looking at the bottom part: 誊 has 龹 (coiled scroll), 訾 has 此 (this), and 詈 has 罒 (net) over 言. In meaning, 誊 is only about copying, 訾 means 'to slander' or 'criticize', and 詈 means 'to curse' or 'scold', so the context is completely different.

誊 appears in formal or literary contexts, such as when copying old manuscripts or making a clean copy of a document (誊清). It is not used in everyday speech but is common in academic, historical, or official writing tasks.

Common words containing 誊 include: 誊写 (téng xiě) — to transcribe; to copy out; 誊清 (téng qīng) — to make a fair copy; 誊录 (téng lù) — to transcribe; to record.