跤 (jiāo) · a tumble, a fall

Meanings

1 a tumble
2 a fall

Characters

跤

jiāo

a fall; a tumble

Examples

HSK 5

他摔了一跤。

Tā shuāi le yī jiāo.

He took a tumble.

HSK 6

小孩子学走路总会跌跤。

Xiǎoháizi xué zǒulù zǒnghuì diē jiāo.

Children always take falls when learning to walk.

Tips

usage

Almost always appears in fixed expressions: 摔跤 (to fall/to wrestle), 跌跤 (to stumble and fall). Rarely used alone.

Components

radical

足 zú

foot

Left foot radical, indexing 跤 with every other character about walking, kicking, and slipping. The 口-on-止 silhouette pictures the ankle joint sitting above the planted foot, the body part most directly involved in losing your balance. Same family: 跑 run, 跳 jump, 踢 kick, 跌 stumble.

phonetic

交 jiāo

to cross; intersect

Right side supplies the sound directly: jiāo. Same phonetic powers 胶 glue, 郊 suburb, 较 compare, 校 school, 饺 dumpling. A faint semantic echo helps too, 交 depicts crossed legs, and a tumble is exactly what happens when your legs cross unexpectedly mid-stride.