嘢 meaning and stroke order
Thing; matter, substance
How to write 嘢, stroke by stroke
14 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 嘢
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (Cantonese) thing
- matter
- stuff
How 嘢 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 野 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 嘢
嘢 is 口 (mouth) plus 野 (yě), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth naming all the wild stuff out in the 野 (field): this thing, that thing, any thing.
嘢 is a Cantonese word meaning thing or stuff, and it is very common in everyday Cantonese speech and writing. In Cantonese it is read je5, and the Mandarin reading yě is mainly a dictionary convention. Example: 你食咗嘢未？(Mandarin reading: nǐ shí zuǒ yě wèi?) Have you eaten anything yet?
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 嘢 in standard Mandarin writing, where the normal word is 东西 (dōngxi). Also do not drop the 口 and write 野 (yě, wild, field), which is a different word.
Questions about 嘢
How many strokes are in 嘢?
嘢 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嘢 mean?
嘢 (yě) means thing; matter, substance.
How do you pronounce 嘢?
嘢 is pronounced yě, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 嘢?
The radical of 嘢 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嘢 under this radical.
Do Mandarin speakers use 嘢?
Not usually. Most Mandarin speakers recognize it from Cantonese pop culture or Hong Kong media, but in their own speech they say 东西 (dōngxi) for thing.
Why does 嘢 have a mouth radical?
Many characters written for spoken Cantonese add 口 to a sound component. Here 口 signals a spoken word and 野 gives the pronunciation.