压 (yà) · to press

Meanings

1 to press

Characters

压

yà

to press

Examples

HSK 3

晚饭后我们去压马路吧。

Wǎnfàn hòu wǒmen qù yàmǎlù ba.

Let's go stroll the streets after dinner.

HSK 5

我压根儿不认识他。

Wǒ yàgēnr bù rènshi tā.

I don't know him at all.

Tips

usage

The fourth-tone reading 压 is bound - it doesn't appear on its own. Practically it shows up in just two everyday items: 压根儿 (used in negatives - "not at all, in the first place") and 压马路 (literally "to press the road", i.e. to wander the streets, often a date activity).

memory

Both 压 compounds describe pressing on a surface from above - your feet on the road, your foot down hard "from the start". The fourth tone matches the heavier, downward feel; the neutral first-tone 压 is for general pressing, while 压 hides in this colloquial pair.

Components

radical

厂 chǎng

cliff; overhang

Cliff radical on top - the indexing radical, picturing an overhanging rock face. Here it functions as the heavy thing pressing down from above, embodying the meaning of 压 (to press, to crush). Same radical heads characters of weight and shelter like 厌 (loathe) and 厨 (kitchen).

semantic

土 tǔ

earth; ground

Earth pinned beneath the cliff - what is being compressed. Strokes assigned here include 土 (3 strokes) plus a residual dot that simplification kept from the traditional 壓; standalone 土 is 3 strokes, here 4 because of that fused dot. The image 'cliff over earth' captures the meaning of crushing pressure.