奖

獎
jiǎng
noun HSK 4 #1,694

Meanings

  1. 1 prize; award; reward
  2. 2 to encourage; to praise

Examples

HSK 3
Nǐ zhòngjiǎng le!
You won a prize!
HSK 4
Tā huòdé le yīděngjiǎng.
He won the first prize.
HSK 6
Zhège jiǎng shì duì nǐ nǔlì de rènkě.
This award is recognition of your effort.

Tips

usage
Common award-related terms: 中奖 (win a prize/lottery), 获奖 (receive an award), 颁奖 (present an award), 奖杯 (trophy), 奖牌 (medal).

Components

radical
大 dà
big
Bottom 大 - the indexing radical for the simplified form, replacing traditional 獎's 犬 (dog, which originally meant 'incite a hound to chase' in the prize-bestowal context). The 1956 swap from 犬 to 大 makes the modern character read straightforwardly as 'a big reward.' Friendly redesign rather than old etymology.
phonetic
丬 qiáng
(here phonetic; standalone: split-board)
Top-left 丬 - historically the left half of 爿 (split bed-board). Supplies the sound element (jiāng → jiǎng with tone shift) for the same phonetic series 将 jiāng/jiàng (general/will), 浆 jiāng (paste), 桨 jiǎng (oar). Pure sound carrier in the simplified form; the traditional 獎 had the fuller 將-over-犬 structure.
semantic
夕 xī
evening (here graphic)
Top-right 夕 - replaces traditional 獎's 寸 (hand offering) above the dog. Visual filler in the simplified form; the 'evening' meaning isn't really active. Loosely you can read it as 'evening prize ceremony,' but treat 夕 here as a graphic substitute completing the upper half of the silhouette.

Stroke Order

奖 jiǎng