扎 (zhā) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

扎

zhā[zha1]Tone 1

to prick, stick, or plunge into

HSK 6

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to prick, stick, or plunge into

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:4

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (the hand radical) takes up roughly one-third of the width, leaving the right component (shí) ample space to stretch its horizontal and vertical strokes gracefully.

1. Meaning

to prick or pierce with a sharp instrument

to plunge or dive into waterto stay temporarily or pitch a camploanword suffix for a beer mug or jar

VerbNeutral#actions#medical#everyday life

Sample Usage

小心别扎了手。
xiǎoxīn bié zhā le shǒu.
Be careful not to prick your hand.
他扎了一个猛子跳进水里。
tā zhā le yí gè měngzi tiào jìn shuǐ lǐ.
He plunged headfirst and jumped into the water.

2. Sound

/[ʈʂa˥]/Tone: 55

扎

zhāzha1

¯(55)

=zhā

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: j/dr retroflex sound

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. Tongue curled up. Tissue stays still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ah sound

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ah'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 stays flat and high at the top of your vocal range, like a sustained musical note.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing it with the unaspirated dental stop zha (zhā vs zhà or zā), or mishearing the retroflex initial as a standard English 'zh' from 'measure'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Hold your hand completely flat and steady high in the air, matching the high level pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 4 strokes

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (hands, holding, or physical actions)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates that the action is performed with the hand or fingers (pricking, sticking).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 乙 (original sound: zhā)

A hand (扌) reaches out to maneuver a sharp hook or instrument (乙), representing the act of pricking or sticking something.

扌 Hand action
乙 Phonetic and structural component

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) to denote manual action and the phonetic element (乙), originally representing the piercing motion of a sharp implement.

Semantic Evolution: From the literal physical action of pricking with a needle or thorn, it expanded to mean diving headfirst (plunging into water) and even anchoring or pitching camp.

In modern slang, it is also borrowed phonetically to refer to a glass 'jar' of beer.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Your hand (扌) accidentally bumps into a sharp hook shaped like the letter Z (乙), causing you to prick yourself and yell out!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

扎

zhāto prickBase character with hand radical.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

托(tuō)

托 uses the 'tuō' phonetic on the right (to support with the palm), whereas 扎 uses 乙 on the right.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

缝衣服时不小心把手给[___]了一下。

Clue: zhā

Common Learner Pitfall

Treating the initial 'zh-' like an English 'zh' sound instead of curling the tongue back into a retroflex position.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 扎 mean when paired with the hand radical (扌) and phonetic 乙?

Production: How do you write the Chinese verb meaning 'to prick or stick with a needle'?

扎zhāto prick, stick, or plunge into

Speed:

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