旱

hàn
noun #37,499

Meanings

  1. 1 drought; dry spell
  2. 2 dry; arid

Examples

HSK 3
Hàn jì kuài dào le.
The dry season is approaching.
HSK 6
Jīnnián běifāng zāoyù le yánzhòng de hàn.
The north suffered a severe drought this year.

Components

radical
日 rì
sun; day
Top sun radical - pictograph of the sun with a stroke through the middle. Anchors the meaning of 旱: a drought is the state of a land baked too long under the sun. Same family: 暑 hot weather, 晒 to sun-dry, 暴 sudden - all built around the imagery of intense sunlight.
phonetic
干 gān
dry; shield
Bottom 干 supplies the sound - gān shifting to hàn via the well-attested g/h alternation, plus tone change. 干 also doubles as a meaning hint here: 干 itself means 'dry,' so 旱 reads as 'sun + dry' - a dry sunbaked land. Same phonetic in 汗 sweat, 杆 pole.

Stroke Order

旱 hàn