薩 meaning and stroke order
Buddhist diety; used in transliterations
How to write 薩, stroke by stroke
17 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
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
Meaning of 薩
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 菩薩|菩萨[pu2 sa4]
- used in transliteration
How 薩 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 隡 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 薩
薩 (sà) is the grass radical 艹 on top of the sound part 隡, which gives the reading. Picture a bodhisattva sitting calmly under leafy plants, and remember the grass on top tells you nothing about meaning here, only the sound matters.
薩 has no meaning of its own and almost always appears in fixed words, most famously 菩薩 (púsà, bodhisattva) and in foreign loanwords. In mainland China it is written in the simplified form 萨. Example: 我們點一個披薩吧。(Wǒmen diǎn yí gè pīsà ba.) Let's order a pizza.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 薩 (sà) with 撒 (sā or sǎ, to scatter or let go), which sounds similar but has the hand radical and a real meaning. Also keep the fourth tone in 菩薩 (púsà); it is not read with a neutral or first tone.
Common words with 薩
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 薩
How many strokes are in 薩?
薩 is written with 17 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 薩 mean?
薩 (sà) means Buddhist diety; used in transliterations. A common word with it is 菩萨 (púsà), meaning "(Buddhism) bodhisattva".
How do you pronounce 薩?
薩 is pronounced sà, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 薩?
The radical of 薩 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 薩 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 薩?
薩 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 萨, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Why does 菩薩 mean bodhisattva?
菩薩 is a shortened transliteration of the Sanskrit word bodhisattva, using characters chosen for their sound. Neither 菩 nor 薩 carries the meaning by itself.
What other foreign words use 薩?
Besides 披薩 (pīsà, pizza), you see it in 薩克斯 (sàkèsī, saxophone) and 薩斯 (sàsī, SARS). It also appears in transliterated names of people and places.