喳 meaning and stroke order
To whisper
How to write 喳, 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.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
Meaning of 喳
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (onom.) chirp, twitter, etc
- used in 喳喳[cha1 cha1] and 喳喳[cha1 cha5]
How 喳 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 查 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 喳
A mouth 口 next to 查 (chá), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth making quick little sounds, like birds chirping or people whispering.
As zhā, 喳 is mostly an onomatopoeia for bird chirps, often doubled as 喳喳 or in 叽叽喳喳 (jījī zhāzhā), meaning chattering. As chā, it appears in 喳喳 (chāchā), to whisper. Example: 麻雀叽叽喳喳地叫。(Máquè jījī zhāzhā de jiào.) The sparrows are chirping and twittering.
Common mistake: Learners often read 喳 as chá because of its phonetic part 查 (chá), but the chirping sound is zhā and the whisper sense is chā. Also do not confuse it with 渣 (zhā, dregs), which has the water radical 氵 instead of 口.
Questions about 喳
How many strokes are in 喳?
喳 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 喳 mean?
喳 (zhā) means to whisper.
How do you pronounce 喳?
喳 is pronounced zhā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 喳?
The radical of 喳 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 喳 under this radical.
What does 叽叽喳喳 mean?
叽叽喳喳 (jījī zhāzhā) imitates the noisy chirping of birds. It is also used for people chattering loudly and all at once, like a group of kids talking.
How do I say whisper using 喳?
Use 喳喳 read as chāchā, or 打喳喳 in some speech. In standard Mandarin, 小声说 (xiǎoshēng shuō) or 耳语 (ěryǔ) are more common ways to say whisper.