筐 (kuāng) · basket

Measure Word

一只筐 zhī

Meanings

1 basket

Characters

筐

kuāng

basket

Examples

HSK 3

把苹果放在筐里。

Bǎ píngguǒ fàng zài kuāng lǐ.

Put the apples in the basket.

HSK 4

奶奶提着一筐鸡蛋回来了。

Nǎinai tí zhe yì kuāng jīdàn huílái le.

Grandma came back carrying a basket of eggs.

Tips

memory

The bamboo radical 竹 on top tells you it is made of bamboo. 匡 gives the sound. Many traditional containers have the bamboo radical: 篮 (basket), 箱 (box), 筷 (chopsticks).

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (top form)

Bamboo radical on top - bamboo-cap form of 竹 - marks 筐 as a bamboo-woven object. Traditional Chinese baskets are still made from bamboo strips. Same top-form radical drives 笔 (brush), 答 (answer), 篮 (basket), 笼 (cage), 筷 (chopsticks). All bamboo-product chars share this six-stroke cap.

phonetic

匡 kuāng

frame; rectify

匡 supplies the sound directly - kuāng with matching tone - and adds semantic reinforcement: a basket has a rectangular wicker frame 匡. The double motivation makes 筐 transparently readable. Same 匡 phonetic also drives 框 (frame), 眶 (eye socket).