拐 (guǎi): to turn (a corner); to change d…

Meanings

1 to turn (a corner); to change direction
2 to kidnap; to abduct
3 to limp; to hobble

Characters

拐

guǎi

to turn; to abduct; cane

Examples

前面路口往左拐。

Qiánmiàn lùkǒu wǎng zuǒ guǎi.

Turn left at the intersection ahead.

拐弯的时候要减速。

Guǎiwān de shíhòu yào jiǎnsù.

Slow down when turning a corner.

人贩子拐走了孩子。

Rén fànzi guǎizǒu le háizi.

The trafficker kidnapped the child.

他拐了一个弯就到了。

Tā guǎi le yīgè wān jiù dào le.

He turned a corner and arrived.

Tips

usage

拐弯 (guǎi wān) = to turn a corner. For giving directions: 左拐 (turn left), 右拐 (turn right). In the kidnapping sense, 拐卖 (guǎi mài) = to kidnap and sell (trafficking).

memory

Think of the word 拐杖 (guǎi zhàng, walking stick/cane) — a stick that helps you turn and hobble along.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side form of 手)

Hand radical on the left — the left-side form of 手. 拐 means to turn or twist (a corner, a person), and also to walk with a cane: all hand-actions. Same radical groups 拐 with 拉 to pull, 推 to push, 打 to hit, 抓 to grab — the manual-verb family.

phonetic

另 lìng

another; separate

Right side 另 supplies the sound, with lìng drifting to guǎi through historical sound change. Faint semantic resonance too: 另 means 'another, separate', and 拐 carries the sense of veering off onto another path — to turn aside, to lure someone away, to deviate.