verb #65,858

Meanings

  1. 1 to be astonished
  2. 2 to be surprised

Examples

Wǒ duì tā tūrán de juédìng hěn jīngyà.
I was very surprised by his sudden decision.
Tā yà yì de kànzhe wǒ, yíjùhuà yě shuō bù chūlái.
She looked at me in astonishment, unable to say a word.

Tips

usage
is almost always bound. You will see it in 惊讶 (surprised) and 讶异 (astonished) far more often than on its own.

Components

radical
yán
speech; words
The left-side speech radical, the compressed form of . Astonishment in old usage came out as a startled cry or exclamation, which is why the speech radical anchors .
phonetic
tooth
Supplies the sound: yá shifted to yà. It carries no tooth meaning into , only the reading, the same role it plays in and .

Stroke Order