掺 (chān): to mix in

Meanings

1 to mix in
2 to blend
3 to adulterate

Characters

掺

chān

to mix in; to adulterate

Examples

有些商家在牛奶里掺水。

Yǒuxiē shāngjiā zài niúnǎi lǐ chān shuǐ.

Some merchants add water to milk.

别在面粉里掺别的东西。

Bié zài miànfěn lǐ chān biéde dōngxi.

Don't mix other things into the flour.

这种酒掺了很多添加剂。

Zhèzhǒng jiǔ chān le hěnduō tiānjiājì.

This wine has been adulterated with many additives.

Tips

usage

掺 often implies adulteration — adding something to dilute or degrade quality: 掺水 (water down), 掺假 (adulterate with fakes). 掺和 (chānhuo) colloquially means to get mixed up in something or to butt in.

mistakes

Don't confuse 掺 (chān, to mix/adulterate) with 搀 (chān, to support by the arm). They are homophones but have very different meanings.

register

Modern usage is read chān for the 'mix in' sense. A separate reading shǎn means to grasp or hold; it survives only in classical poetry and has no modern compounds.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left-side hand radical — the indexing radical, the side-form of 手. Files 掺 with the family of mixing/stirring/manipulating verbs: 拌 (mix), 搅 (stir), 抓 (grab), 挑 (pick). The radical pins down 'hand actively combining things' as the core action of 掺.

phonetic

参 cān

to participate; ginseng

Right-side 参 supplies the sound, with cān shifting to chān in 掺 — a known phonetic drift. 参 also adds a faint semantic flavor: its 'mixing/joining' sense (as in 参与, to participate) reinforces the hand-mixing-things meaning. Same phonetic family: 渗 (seep through), 惨 (miserable), 掺 itself.