秧 meaning and stroke order
Shoots, sprouts; young rice plants
How to write 秧, stroke by stroke
10 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 秧
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- sapling; seedling; sprout; (esp.) rice seedling
- stem; stalk; vine
- baby livestock; fry
- (dialect) to raise; to cultivate (plants or animals)
How 秧 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Rice.
禾 gives the meaning and 央 hints at the sound.
Radical: 禾 (cereal), shared by 66 characters on this site.
How to remember 秧
秧 combines 禾 (hé, grain plant) with 央 (yāng), which gives the sound. Picture young grain plants 禾 set out in neat rows in the center 央 of a flooded paddy.
秧 usually means seedlings, especially rice seedlings, and appears in farming words like 秧苗 (yāngmiáo, seedlings) and 插秧 (chāyāng, to transplant rice). It can also mean young animals, as in 鱼秧 (yúyāng, fish fry). Example: 农民在田里插秧。(Nóngmín zài tián lǐ chāyāng.) The farmers are transplanting rice seedlings in the field.
Common mistake: Learners often write 殃 (yāng, disaster) or 映 (yìng, to reflect) by mistake because they share 央. Remember that only 秧 has the plant radical 禾 on the left.
Common words with 秧
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 秧歌 | yāngge | Yangge, a popular rural folk dance | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 秧
How many strokes are in 秧?
秧 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 秧 mean?
秧 (yāng) means shoots, sprouts; young rice plants. A common word with it is 秧歌 (yāngge), meaning "Yangge, a popular rural folk dance".
How do you pronounce 秧?
秧 is pronounced yāng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 秧?
The radical of 秧 is 禾, which carries the idea of "cereal". Dictionaries list 秧 under this radical.
Is 秧 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 秧 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 秧 mean in 秧歌?
秧歌 (yāngge) is a northern Chinese folk dance that grew out of songs farmers sang while planting rice. In this word the second syllable 歌 is usually read in the neutral tone.
Can 秧 refer to plants other than rice?
Yes. It can mean seedlings or vines of many plants, as in 瓜秧 (guāyāng, melon vines) or 树秧 (shùyāng, tree saplings). Rice is simply the most common context.