扎 (zhā): to prick; to stick in; to pierce

Meanings

1 to prick; to stick in; to pierce
2 to plunge into; to dive into
3 to be stationed at; to camp (of troops)
4 jar; mug (measure for beer, loanword)

Characters

扎

zhā

to prick; to pierce; to plunge into

Examples

HSK 4

小心，别被针扎到了。

Xiǎoxīn, bié bèi zhēn zhā dào le.

Be careful, don't get pricked by the needle.

HSK 7-9

他一头扎进了水里。

Tā yītóu zhā jìn le shuǐ lǐ.

He dove headfirst into the water.

HSK 7-9

请来两扎扎啤。

Qǐng lái liǎng zhā zhāpí.

Two draft beers please.

Tips

usage

The zhā reading (level tone) is by far the most common - it covers (1) pricking / piercing: 扎针 (give an injection), 扎心 (heartrending, internet slang); (2) plunging / diving: 扎根 (take root), 扎实 (solid, down-to-earth); (3) camping / stationing: 驻扎 (station troops), 扎营 (pitch camp), 安营扎寨; (4) the beer measure: 扎啤 (draft beer, from English 'jar').

memory

Three readings, three jobs - and an easy mnemonic. zhā POINTS into things (needle, ground, camp). zā BUNDLES things (tie, wrap). zhá STRUGGLES inside things (only in 挣扎). The visual is the same: a hand 扌 plus a single hooked stroke 乚 - but the verb meaning changes with the tone.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left-side hand radical, the side form of 手. Anchors 扎 in the manual-action family - pricking, tying, struggling are all things hands do. Same radical drives 打 (hit), 拉 (pull), 扔 (throw). Provides essentially all the meaning while the right side just suggests sound and shape.

phonetic

乚 yǐ

hidden; second (variant of 乙)

Right side is a single hooked stroke - a variant of 乙. The phonetic role is rough (yǐ → zhā, the readings drifted heavily) so today 乚 functions more as a graphic anchor than a real sound clue. Same shape ends 礼, 札, 乳.