咖 (gā): used in 咖喱 (curry)

Meanings

1 used in 咖喱 (curry)

Characters

咖

gā

used in 咖喱 (curry)

Examples

今晚做一锅咖喱鸡吧。

Jīnwǎn zuò yī guō gālí jī ba.

Tonight let's make a pot of curry chicken.

她往锅里加了两勺咖喱粉。

Tā wǎng guō lǐ jiā le liǎng sháo gālí fěn.

She added two spoons of curry powder to the pot.

Tips

usage

The gā reading is bound to 咖喱 (curry) and its compounds such as 咖喱粉 (curry powder). Taiwan often reads this word kālí; mainland standard is gālí.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

口 on the left is a small square for parted lips, the indexing radical. It appears on characters built to spell borrowed sounds, here drinking-related loanwords like 咖啡 coffee and 咖喱 curry. The radical tells the reader the right side is pronounced, not analyzed for meaning.

phonetic

加 jiā

to add (here phonetic)

加 on the right supplies the sound, jiā shifting to kā or gā in transliteration. Same phonetic powers 架 frame, 茄 eggplant, 嫁 to marry off. Pure sound role here.