鴉 (yā) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

鴉

yā[ya1]Tone 1

crow

HSK 7

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鸦

Guru Deep Dive

English · crow

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:15

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (牙) narrower to leave enough open space for the right bird component (鸟), balancing overall visual weight.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 鴉 uses 鳥 on the right, which was simplified to 乌 (bird without legs) in the simplified form 鸦.

1. Meaning

crow, raven

dark-colored birdsquawk of birds

NounNeutral#animals#birds#nature

Sample Usage

乌鸦
wūyā
crow, raven
鸦雀无声
yā què wú shēng
silence, not a single sound (lit. crows and sparrows make no sound)

2. Sound

/[ja˥]/Tone: 55

鴉

yāya1

¯(55)

=yā

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

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: Glide (y)

Sounds like: Glide (y)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Acts as a bridge into 'i' or 'ü' vowel sounds.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Neutral floor of mouth

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ya 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 is sustained at the upper register of your voice, like a musical note held steady without dropping or rising.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the high level tone (Tone 1) with the rising tone (Tone 2), causing it to sound like 'yá' instead of 'yā'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A high, flat horizontal hand gesture held steady in the air, matching the flat high pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 15 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the left component (牙) narrower to leave enough open space for the right bird component (鸟), balancing overall visual weight.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 鴉 uses 鳥 on the right, which was simplified to 乌 (bird without legs) in the simplified form 鸦.

4. Components

Radical 鸟 · bird radical (birds)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 鸟 (indicates that this character refers to a bird species)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 牙 (original sound: ya)

A bird (鸟) that makes a sharp sound like grinding teeth (牙).

牙 Provides the phonetic sound 'yā'
鸟 Provides the semantic category of birds

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

14· Phonetic Root: 牙 (yá)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the phonetic element 牙 (yá) and the designator for birds (鸟/鳥), categorizing it as a species of black bird.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to the raven or crow, and has retained this primary meaning through centuries.

Crows in Chinese culture historically held dual meanings: sometimes seen as ominous birds, and sometimes as symbols of filial piety because young crows feed their parents.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ア / Kun: カラス

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

아

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a black bird (鸟) perched on a giant tooth (牙), cawing loudly into the sky.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

牙

yátoothPhonetic Core (声旁)

呀

yāah / creaking+ 口 (mouth)

芽

yábud+ 艹 (plants)

讶

yàastounded+ 讠 (speech)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

鸭(yā)

鸦 has 牙 on the left (crow), while 鸭 has 甲 on the left inside the bird variant or uses different components (actually 鸭 is 氵 + 鸟).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

樹枝上停著一隻烏[___]。

Clue: yā

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character structure with duck (鸭) due to the identical pronunciation.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What animal does the character 鸦 represent, and what is its pronunciation?

Production: How do you write the character for 'crow' (yā) using its phonetic and semantic parts?

鴉yācrow

Speed:

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