鸦 meaning and stroke order
Crow; Corvus species (various)
How to write 鸦, stroke by stroke
9 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 鸦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- crow
- variant of 鴉|鸦[ya1]
How 鸦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
鸟 gives the meaning and 牙 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鸟 (bird), shared by 72 characters on this site.
How to remember 鸦
鸦 combines 牙 (yá, tooth), which gives the sound, with 鸟 (niǎo, bird), which gives the meaning. Picture a noisy bird with a sharp beak like a tooth, calling "yā, yā".
鸦 rarely stands alone. It appears in words like 乌鸦 (wūyā, crow), 涂鸦 (túyā, graffiti) and the idiom 鸦雀无声 (yāquè-wúshēng, total silence). Example: 教室里鸦雀无声。(Jiàoshì lǐ yāquè-wúshēng.) The classroom was completely silent.
Common mistake: Learners often read 鸦 as yá because of the phonetic part 牙 (yá), but 鸦 is first tone, yā. Also do not confuse it with 鸭 (yā, duck), which sounds the same but has 甲 on the left instead of 牙.
Common words with 鸦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
鸦 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 鸦
How many strokes are in 鸦?
鸦 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鸦 mean?
鸦 (yā) means crow; Corvus species (various). A common word with it is 鸦雀无声 (yāquè-wúshēng), meaning "lit. crow and peacock make no sound; absolute silence (idiom); not a single voice can be h".
How do you pronounce 鸦?
鸦 is pronounced yā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 鸦?
The radical of 鸦 is 鸟, which carries the idea of "bird". Dictionaries list 鸦 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鸦?
The traditional form of 鸦 is 鴉 and 鵶. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鸦 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 鸦 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 鸦 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 乌鸦嘴 mean when people call someone that?
乌鸦嘴 (wūyāzuǐ) describes someone who says unlucky things that seem to come true. In Chinese culture the crow is often linked to bad omens, so saying 你真是乌鸦嘴 means roughly "you jinxed it."
Why does 鸦片 mean opium if 鸦 means crow?
鸦片 (yāpiàn) is a loanword, so 鸦 is used mainly for its sound, not its meaning. It has nothing to do with crows.