qiāng
noun HSK 5 #298

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 gun; firearm; rifle
  2. 2 spear; lance

Examples

Jǐngchá ná chū le qiāng.
The police officer drew his gun.
Tā tīngdào le qiāngshēng.
He heard gunshots.
Zhè bǎ qiāng shì jiǎ de.
This gun is fake.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 手枪 (pistol), 步枪 (rifle), 机枪 (machine gun), 枪声 (gunshot sound).
history
The character has (wood) on the left - historically, guns/spears had wooden shafts or stocks.

Components

radical
tree; wood
Left tree radical - the indexing component. originally referred to a wooden spear or lance, hence the wood marker. The meaning later extended to firearms once their stocks were still wooden. Same radical anchors weapon-shafts and tools: (stick), (plank), (chair).
phonetic
cāng
storehouse; granary
Right supplies the sound (cāng to qiāng, c/q affricate drift) and a possible flavor of armory or storehouse - a place where weapons are kept. Phonetic family: (vast water), (deep blue), (cabin) - all carrying cāng/qiāng readings.

Stroke Order

qiāng