誇 (kuā) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

誇

kuā[kua1]Tone 1

to boast, to praise

HSK 7

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夸

Guru Deep Dive

English · to boast, to praise

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (言) should be slightly compressed to make room for the right component (大), keeping both halves balanced vertically within an imaginary square boundary.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 誇 retains the complete word-root component on the left, whereas the simplified form preserves the same glyph structure.

1. Meaning

to praise

to boastto exaggerate

VerbNeutral#communication#evaluation#human action

Sample Usage

妈妈夸他很聪明。
Māma kuā tā hěn cōngmíng.
Mom praised him for being very smart.
这道菜好吃得没话说，不是我夸口。
Zhè dào cài hǎo chī de méi huà shuō, bú shì wǒ kuākǒu.
This dish is deliciously speechless, and I am not boasting.

2. Sound

/[kʰu̯ä˥˥]/Tone: 55

誇

kuākua1

¯(55)

=kuā

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 touches the soft palate, releasing a crisp burst of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ua rhymes with 'wah' in 'water'

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

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 is a high, level pitch (55) similar to a sustained musical note at the top of your speaking range, without any rise or fall.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the high flat Tone 1 (kuā - to praise) with the rising Tone 2 (kuá) or falling Tone 4 (kuà); make sure the pitch stays steady and high.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine holding a flat, high musical note at the very top of your vocal range, accompanied by a flat horizontal hand gesture moving steadily from left to right.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 6 strokes

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 誇 retains the complete word-root component on the left, whereas the simplified form preserves the same glyph structure.

4. Components

Radical 言 · Speech radical (Words, speech, language)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 言 (Indicates that the action involves words, talking, or speaking.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 大 (original sound: kua)

A person uses **words** (言) to make things sound **big** (大), which is the exact definition of boasting, exaggerating, or giving high praise!

言 Speech or words (left side)
大 Big or large (right side)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from 言 (speech) indicating the semantic field of talking, and 大 (big) acting as an ancient phonetic indicator and conceptual hint that the speech is exaggerated or inflated.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting large or excessive speech (boasting), it naturally broadened to include praising someone by speaking highly of them.

The compound character demonstrates how ancient Chinese combined concrete semantic radicals with size concepts to abstract mental actions.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To **praise** or **boast** (kuā), you use **words** (言) to make yourself or someone else look **big** (大) like a giant!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

垮

kuǎto collapse, to break downReplaces the speech radical with the earth/dirt radical (土), signifying ground or structures collapsing.

跨

kuàto stride, to step acrossReplaces the speech radical with the foot radical (足), representing stepping or striding with legs.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

垮(kuǎ)

夸 has the speech radical (言) for talking/praising; 垮 has the earth radical (土) for collapsing earth.

跨(kuà)

夸 uses words (言); 跨 uses the foot radical (足) for striding across physical space.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

老師經常[___]他是一個勤奮的好學生。

Clue: kuā

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone (Tone 1 kuā) with other tones or mistaking it for lookalike characters like 垮 (kuǎ) which share the same phonetic right-hand side but different radicals.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 夸 with the speech radical and 'big', what two main actions does it signify?

Production: How do you write and pronounce the Chinese verb meaning 'to boast or praise' using pinyin kuā?

誇kuāto boast, to praise

Speed:

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