挝 (wō): (in 老挝) Laos

Meanings

1 (in 老挝) Laos

Characters

挝

wō

(in 老挝) Laos

Examples

老挝是东南亚的一个内陆国家。

Lǎowō shì Dōngnányà de yī gè nèilù guójiā.

Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia.

老挝的首都是万象。

Lǎowō de shǒudū shì Wànxiàng.

The Lao capital is Vientiane.

Tips

usage

In modern Chinese this character is encountered almost only in the country name 老挝 (Laos), where it is read wō. For the verb 'to strike / beat' the same character is read zhuā.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side radical)

Hand radical on the left, side-form of 手. It comes from the original 'to strike with the hand' meaning; in the country name 老挝 the radical is just inherited and carries no meaning.

phonetic

过 guò

to pass; to cross

Right side 过 is the simplified phonetic. The full traditional form 撾 used a different sound element; the reform substituted 过.