莎 meaning and stroke order
A kind of sedge grass that used to be woven into raincoats
How to write 莎, 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 莎
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- katydid (family Tettigoniidae)
- phonetic "sha" used in transliteration
- used in 莎草[suo1 cao3]
How 莎 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grass.
艹 gives the meaning and 沙 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 莎
莎 is grass 艹 growing on top of sand 沙 (shā). Picture a tough sedge grass that grows in sandy ground, which people once wove into raincoats.
Today 莎 (shā) appears mostly in transliterated foreign names, such as 莎士比亚 (Shāshìbǐyà, Shakespeare). When it means the sedge plant it is read suō, as in 莎草 (suōcǎo, sedge). Example: 我喜欢读莎士比亚。(Wǒ xǐhuan dú Shāshìbǐyà.) I like reading Shakespeare.
Common mistake: Learners often read 莎草 as shācǎo, but for the plant the correct reading is suō. Also do not drop the grass radical and write 沙 (shā, sand) in names like 莎拉 (Shālā, Sarah).
莎 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 莎
How many strokes are in 莎?
莎 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 莎 mean?
莎 (shā) means a kind of sedge grass that used to be woven into raincoats.
How do you pronounce 莎?
莎 is pronounced shā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 莎?
The radical of 莎 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 莎 under this radical.
Why is 莎 so common in women's names?
It is a standard choice for transliterating the foreign sound "sha" or "sa" in names, like 莎拉 (Shālā, Sarah) and 玛莎 (Mǎshā, Martha). The grass radical gives it a soft, natural feel, so it is often preferred over 沙 for female names.
What does 莎 mean in 莎鸡?
In 莎鸡 (shājī) the character refers to the katydid, a grasshopper-like insect. This is an older, literary usage you will mostly see in classical texts.