qiāng
noun HSK 5 #298

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 gun; firearm; rifle
  2. 2 spear; lance

Examples

HSK 3
Jǐngchá ná chū le qiāng.
The police officer drew his gun.
HSK 3
Zhè bǎ qiāng shì jiǎ de.
This gun is fake.
HSK 5
Tā tīngdào le qiāngshēng.
He heard gunshots.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 手枪 (pistol), 步枪 (rifle), 机枪 (machine gun), 枪声 (gunshot sound).
history
The character has (wood) on the left - historically, guns/spears had wooden shafts or stocks.

Components

radical
tree; wood
Left tree radical - the indexing component. originally referred to a wooden spear or lance, hence the wood marker. The meaning later extended to firearms once their stocks were still wooden. Same radical anchors weapon-shafts and tools: (stick), (plank), (chair).
phonetic
cāng
storehouse; granary
Right supplies the sound (cāng to qiāng, c/q affricate drift) and a possible flavor of armory or storehouse - a place where weapons are kept. Phonetic family: (vast water), (deep blue), (cabin) - all carrying cāng/qiāng readings.

Stroke Order

qiāng