跨 (kuà) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

跨

kuà[kua4]Tone 4

to step across

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · to step across

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left foot radical (足) is slightly compressed on the left, leaving ample room for the right phonetic component (夸) so the character remains balanced and does not lean.

1. Meaning

to step across, stride over, straddle, span

to surpassto wear (e.g., a sword across the waist)across (time or space, e.g., cross-century)

VerbNeutral#movement#actions#physical space

Sample Usage

跨过溪流
kuà guò xīliú
to step across the stream
跨世纪
kuà shìjì
cross-century

2. Sound

/[kʰuä˥˩]/Tone: 51

跨

kuàkua4

`(51)

=kuà

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Velar

Sounds like: English k sound

Aspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of tongue raised against soft palate, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: oo-ah combination

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 is a sharp, angry command tone, identical to shouting 'NO!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the initial 'k' with 'g' or missing the 'u' medial glide, pronouncing it simply as 'kà'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, forceful downward karate chop from high to low, matching Tone 4's abrupt drop.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

4. Components

Radical 足 · Foot Radical (Foot or leg)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 足 (Indicates physical movement involving legs, walking, or stepping.)

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

Combining the foot radical (足) on the left with 'to boast' or 'big' (夸) on the right creates the image of taking a big, boastful step across a gap.

足 Foot / Leg (semantic clue for walking or stepping)
夸 Boast / Large (phonetic clue providing the sound 'kuà')

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 夸 (kuā)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: The character combines 足 (foot) to denote stepping or walking with 夸 (kuā, big/exaggerated) to represent taking an oversized step or stretching the legs wide.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to stride or walk with big steps; later expanded metaphorically to span across boundaries, periods of time, or objects.

The phonetic component 夸 also carries a sense of 'stretching out' or 'exaggerating', which reinforces the idea of an extended stride.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カ (ka) / Kun: また.ぐ (matagu), また.がる (matagaru)

Sound Shift Bridge: The Mandarin 'kuà' shows historical links to Japanese 'matagu' and shares the core 'k-' initial roots in many East Asian comparative contexts.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine using your **foot** (足) to take a huge, **boastful** (**夸**) stride, **stepping across** a wide ditch in a single leap.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

夸

kuāto boast / exaggerateWithout the foot radical, it means to boast or praise.

胯

kuàhip / groinUses the meat/body part radical (月) instead of the foot radical (足).

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

夸(kuā)

夸 lacks the foot radical (足) on the left and means to boast rather than to step.

胯(kuà)

胯 replaces the foot radical (足) with the flesh radical (月), referring to the hips.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他一脚[___]过了那条小河。

Clue: kuà

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 跨 (kuà) with 夸 (kuā) by forgetting to include the foot radical (足) when writing it manually.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 跨 mean when you see it in 跨国 (transnational)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to step across or span' using the foot radical?

跨kuàto step across

Speed:

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