jiā
noun #6,206

Meanings

  1. 1 used in transliterations (e.g. yoga, gamma)
  2. 2 Sanskrit-derived syllable

Examples

HSK 5
Jiāmǎ shèxiàn de néngliàng hěn gāo.
Gamma rays have very high energy.
HSK 6
Tā měitiān liàn yújiā.
She practices yoga every day.

Tips

usage
Pronounced jiā in 瑜伽 (yoga) and 伽马 (gamma). Pronounced qié in Buddhist terms like 伽蓝 (monastery).

Components

radical
rén
person (left-side radical)
Left person radical - two strokes, the compressed standing-side form of . Carries the meaning: most uses of transliterate Sanskrit syllables tied to people or sacred figures (瑜伽 yoga, 伽蓝 saṃghārāma temple, 释迦 Śākyamuni). The radical signals the human/religious-figure context.
phonetic
jiā
add (phonetic)
Right phonetic - supplies the sound exactly (jiā). Originally strength + mouth, meaning 'to boost with words.' In the phonetic is purely sound-borrow with no meaning carry-over; this is a transliteration character used for foreign syllables. Same phonetic anchors (coffee), (eggplant), (scab), (cangue) - most are also transliteration or rare lexical uses.

Stroke Order

jiā