喇 meaning and stroke order
Horn, bugle; llama; final particle
How to write 喇, stroke by stroke
12 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 喇
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (onom.) sound of wind, rain etc
- (phonetic)
How 喇 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 剌 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 喇
喇 is a mouth 口 next to 剌 (là), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth blowing hard into a horn, and the 剌 side tells you it sounds like "la".
喇 almost never appears alone. It shows up in a few fixed words, mainly 喇叭 (lǎba, horn, loudspeaker) and 喇嘛 (lǎma, lama). Example: 司机按了一下喇叭。(Sījī àn le yíxià lǎba.) The driver honked the horn.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 刺 (cì, thorn), but 剌 has 束 on the left, not 朿. Also note the tone: in 喇叭 and 喇嘛 it is third tone lǎ, not first tone lā.
Common words with 喇
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 喇叭 | lǎba | horn (automobile etc); loudspeaker | HSK 7-9 |
| 喇嘛 | lǎma | lama, spiritual teacher in Tibetan Buddhism | |
| 吹喇叭 | chuīlǎba | (lit.) blowing the trumpet; (fig.) to praise sb |
喇 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 喇
How many strokes are in 喇?
喇 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 喇 mean?
喇 (lǎ) means horn, bugle; llama; final particle. A common word with it is 喇叭 (lǎba), meaning "horn (automobile etc); loudspeaker".
How do you pronounce 喇?
喇 is pronounced lǎ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 喇?
The radical of 喇 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 喇 under this radical.
Is 喇 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 喇 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 吹喇叭 only mean playing a trumpet?
No. Literally it means blowing a horn or trumpet, but figuratively it means to praise someone loudly, often in a flattering way. Context tells you which meaning is intended.
When is 喇 read as lā?
The reading lā is used for onomatopoeia, imitating sounds like wind or rain. In everyday words such as 喇叭 and 喇嘛, use lǎ.