押

yā
verb HSK 7-9 #4,196

Meanings

  1. 1 to mortgage
  2. 2 to pawn
  3. 3 to escort

Examples

HSK 6
Fànrén bèi yāsòng dào fǎyuàn.
The prisoner was escorted to court.
HSK 7-9
Zūfáng xūyào jiāo yājīn.
Renting requires a security deposit.

Tips

usage
Common in 押金 (yājīn, deposit) and 抵押 (dǐyā, mortgage).

Components

radical
扌 shǒu
hand (radical form)
Hand radical on the left - also 押's indexing radical (side-form of 手). Direct semantic anchor: 押 means to press down, detain, sign (押字), pawn (押金). All of these are hand-actions of imposing weight or marking. Same radical in 按 (press), 抓 (grab), 拘 (detain), 担 (carry).
phonetic
甲 jiǎ
armor; first heavenly stem
Right side 甲 supplies the sound: jiǎ → yā with significant Old Chinese drift in initial and tone. The 甲/押 pair is one of the harder phonetic links because the modern readings have separated; recognise the 甲 cluster (also 鸭 'duck', 闸, 押) and the connection re-emerges. No semantic flavour here from 'armor.'

Stroke Order

押 yā