仗

zhàng
noun #6,215

Measure Word

一场仗 chǎng

Meanings

  1. 1 battle; war
  2. 2 weaponry

Examples

HSK 4
Zhè chǎng zhàng dǎ le sān nián.
This battle lasted three years.
HSK 6
Tā yíbèizi méi dǎ guò zhàng.
He has never fought in a war in his life.
HSK 7-9
Dǎzhàng shì hěn cánkù de.
Fighting a war is very cruel.

Tips

usage
Most commonly used in the phrase 打仗 (to fight a war/battle). Also appears in 仗义 (to be loyal and righteous).

Components

radical
亻 rén
person (radical, left-side form of 人)
Left person radical - the side-form of 人. Marks 仗 as something a person does or carries: bearing arms, fighting battles, leaning on someone for support. Same radical anchors most interpersonal-action verbs and human-noun characters in modern Chinese (你, 他, 们, 信, 住, 作).
phonetic
丈 zhàng
ten-foot measure; staff (phonetic)
Right side 丈 supplies the sound - zhàng exact match. 丈 originally pictured a hand grasping a long staff, so the staff/weapon imagery aligns nicely with 仗's 'weaponry, battle, rely on' senses. A rare case where the phonetic doubles as a vivid memory image - person + long-staff = warrior-with-weapon.

Stroke Order

仗 zhàng