痒

癢
yǎng
adjective HSK 6 #5,344

Meanings

  1. 1 itchy
  2. 2 to itch

Examples

HSK 7-9
Bèi wénzi yǎo le yǐhòu tèbié yǎng.
It's really itchy after being bitten by a mosquito.
HSK 7-9
Nǐ bié náo, yuè náo yuè yǎng.
Don't scratch - the more you scratch, the itchier it gets.

Tips

memory
The radical 疒 (illness) hints that itchiness is a bodily discomfort. The right side 羊 (yáng, sheep) gives the sound - imagine a sheep that can't stop scratching itself.

Components

radical
疒 nè
sickness
Sickness radical wrapping the upper-left - pictures a person lying on a sickbed (the bed-form of 爿 plus a 亠 lid). It marks 痒 as a bodily ailment, even a minor one like an itch. Same radical heads the entire illness family: 病 (sick), 疼 (ache), 痛 (pain), 疯 (mad).
phonetic
羊 yáng
sheep
羊 (yáng) tucked inside the sickbed - supplies the sound, lightly retoned to yǎng. This is the simplified form of 癢 (which had 養 as phonetic). The same yáng/yǎng family runs through 洋, 样, 养, 氧. Here it is purely sonic - meaning is all in 疒.

Stroke Order

痒 yǎng