挞 (tà): to whip; to flog (literary, bou…

Meanings

1 to whip; to flog (literary, bound form)
2 (loanword, colloq. read tǎ) tart (pastry, e.g. egg tart)

Characters

挞

tà

to whip; (loan) tart

Examples

鞭挞罪恶。

Biāntà zuì'è.

To lash out at evil.

我最爱吃葡式蛋挞。

Wǒ zuì ài chī Púshì dàntà.

I love Portuguese egg tarts the most.

Tips

usage

挞 has two lives: as a literary verb meaning 'to whip/flog' it appears almost only in compounds like 鞭挞 (biāntà, to lash) or 挞伐 (tàfá, to attack). As a loanword for 'tart' (pastry) it's read colloquially as tǎ — 蛋挞 (dàntǎ) = egg tart.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left hand radical — side-form of 手 (Kangxi #64). Anchors 挞 in the hand-action family. 挞 specifically marks a striking motion — to whip, flog, lash. Sister striking-verbs: 打 (hit), 拍 (clap), 揍 (beat up), 抽 (whip with a switch). The radical states 'something done with the hand' immediately.

phonetic

达 dá

reach; arrive (here phonetic)

Right 达 supplies the sound — dá shifted to tà, only tone-and-aspiration differs. 达 itself shows 辶 (walk) + 大 (big stride), meaning 'to reach, arrive'; here the meaning doesn't carry. Pure phonetic. The simplified 挞 replaced traditional 撻's right-side 達 with the simpler 达, keeping the sound. Common compounds 鞭挞 (whip), 挞伐 (whip-and-strike, attack).