篮

籃
lán
noun #5,662

Meanings

  1. 1 basket

Examples

HSK 2
Tā hěn xǐhuan dǎ lánqiú.
He really likes playing basketball.
HSK 3
Lánzi lǐ yǒu shuǐguǒ.
There is fruit in the basket.

Tips

usage
篮 is mainly found in 篮球 (basketball) and 篮子 (basket). The 竹 radical on top reflects baskets originally made from bamboo.

Components

radical
⺮ zhú
bamboo (top form of 竹)
Bamboo top radical - the compressed top-stacked form of 竹. Baskets in old China were woven from bamboo, so the radical is exact. Same radical heads 篮 with 笔 brush, 算 calculate, 笑 laugh, 答 answer, 第 ordinal - the wide bamboo-implement and bamboo-tablet family.
phonetic
监 jiān
to oversee; supervise (here phonetic)
Bottom 监 supplies the sound: jiān drifted to lán with regular j/l alternation. Same phonetic also gives 蓝 (blue), 滥 (overflow), 槛 / 槛 (threshold) - a productive jiān/lán family. The shared phonetic links 篮 (basket) and 蓝 (blue) into the same word-family.

In Pop Culture

灌篮高手 Guànlán Gāoshǒu
Slam Dunk
Iconic basketball anime, hugely popular in China.

Stroke Order

篮 lán