挎 (kuà) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

挎

kuà[kua4]Tone 4

to carry (esp. slung over the arm, shoulder or side)

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to carry (esp. slung over the arm, shoulder or side)

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) occupies about one-third of the width and must remain narrow and compact, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (夸).

1. Meaning

to carry or sling over the arm, shoulder, or side

to put on or wear across the body (such as a sash or bag strap)

VerbNeutral#action#carrying#daily movement

Sample Usage

她挎着一个包。
tā kuà zhe yī gè bāo.
She is carrying a bag over her arm/shoulder.
他挎着篮子去赶集。
tā kuà zhe lán zi qù gǎn jí.
He is carrying a basket on his arm to go to the market.

2. Sound

/[kʰu̯ä⁵¹]/Tone: 51

挎

kuàkua4

`(51)

=kuà

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

kua

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Velar

Sounds like: k sound as in 'kite'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Strong gust of air from throat! Tissue held in front MUST fly forward.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue rises to make contact with the soft palate, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: wah sound as in 'wah-wah'

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges straight down, just like shouting a firm command like 'NO!' or 'DOWN!'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'ku-' with 'gu-' (unaspirated), or confusing Tone 4 (51) with Tone 1 (55).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, decisive downward karate chop or a quick nod of agreement.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) occupies about one-third of the width and must remain narrow and compact, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (夸).

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (Hand actions, touching, or manual work)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (indicates that the action is performed using the hand, arm, or body to carry something)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 夸 (original sound: kuā)

Combine the Hand radical (扌) on the left with the phonetic component 'to boast or exaggerate' (夸) on the right to form 'kuà' (to carry slung over the arm/shoulder).

扌 Hand action
夸 Phonetic clue providing the sound 'kuā'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 夸 (kuā)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Created as a phono-semantic compound where the hand radical (扌) denotes manual action of carrying, and 夸 provides the sound.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred to carrying things suspended from the arm or shoulder, maintaining this core physical sense into modern Chinese.

The phonetic part 夸 originally depicted a large person standing with legs apart, later loaning its sound to related words.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to BOAST (夸) about your heavy shopping bags by proudly SLINGING them over your shoulder (kuà).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

夸

kuāboast, praise, exaggeratePhonetic Core (声旁)

跨

kuàto step across+ 足 (foot)

垮

kuǎto collapse (lit. or fig.)+ 土 (earth)

侉

kuǎforeign accent+ 亻 (person)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

跨(kuà)

跨 has the foot radical (足) for stepping/striding across things, while 挎 has the hand radical (扌) for carrying items on your arm.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

她胳膊上[___]着一个漂亮的皮包。

Clue: kuà

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 挎 (kuà - carrying on arm/shoulder) with 跨 (kuà - striding over with legs) due to identical pronunciation and similar visual components.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 挎, what physical action of carrying does it describe?

Production: How do you write the character for carrying a bag slung over your arm (kuà)?

挎kuàto carry (esp. slung over the arm, shoulder or side)

Speed:

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