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串

chuàn
measure word HSK 6 #4,815

Meanings

  1. 1 string; skewer
  2. 2 to string together
  3. 3 measure word for skewers or strings of things

Examples

来十串羊肉串！
Lái shí chuàn yángròuchuàn!
Give me ten lamb skewers!
一串钥匙。
Yìchuàn yàoshi.
A bunch of keys.
她戴着一串珍珠项链。
Tā dài zhe yìchuàn zhēnzhū xiàngliàn.
She's wearing a pearl necklace.

Tips

culture
烧烤 (shāokǎo, BBQ) and 串串 (chuànchuàn, skewers) are hugely popular Chinese street foods. 撸串 (lū chuàn, eating skewers) is a beloved nighttime activity.

Components

radical
丨 gǔn
vertical stroke; skewer
The single vertical stroke piercing both squares — Kangxi radical #2 (the indexing radical) and the literal skewer of the picture. Without it, the two 口 are just stacked boxes; with it, they become 'string of items.' One of the few times 丨 acts as a real semantic component.
semantic
口 kǒu
mouth (here a small object)
Top 口 — the upper of two small square objects threaded onto the central skewer. In the original pictograph the squares depicted lumps of food or small items, not literal mouths; the same 口 silhouette serves as a generic 'small box/object' here.
semantic
口 kǒu
mouth (here a small object)
Bottom 口 — the lower of the two threaded objects, mirroring the upper one. The repetition emphasises 'multiple things on a string.' Together the two squares plus the vertical create one of the most transparent pictographs in the script: items skewered on a stick.

Stroke Order

串 chuàn