辣 (là) · spicy; hot (peppery)

Meanings

1 spicy; hot (peppery)
2 pungent; biting

Characters

辣

là

spicy; hot; pungent

Examples

HSK 1

这个菜太辣了！

Zhège cài tài là le!

This dish is too spicy!

HSK 1

我不太能吃辣。

Wǒ bútài néng chī là.

I can't really handle spicy food.

HSK 7-9

四川菜特别辣。

Sìchuān cài tèbié là.

Sichuan food is especially spicy.

Tips

culture

China has distinct spicy food regions: 四川 (Sichuan) is known for 麻辣 (numbing-spicy), 湖南 (Hunan) for pure heat, and 贵州 (Guizhou) for sour-spicy. The phrase 能吃辣吗？ is one of the first questions at many Chinese restaurants.

usage

Spiciness levels in restaurants: 不辣 (not spicy), 微辣 (mild), 中辣 (medium), 特辣 (extra spicy). 吃辣 is used as a verb phrase meaning 'to eat spicy food'.

memory

辣 contains 辛 (xīn, acrid/pungent) on the left, hinting at its meaning. The right side is 束 - bundling all the heat into one bite.

Components

radical

辛 xīn

bitter; pungent; tattoo-blade

Left-side 辛 originally pictured a tattoo blade used to brand criminals - from that came 'painful, harsh, biting'. As the indexing radical it brands 辣 as belonging to the family of sharp/pungent sensations. 辛 itself can already mean 'spicy, harsh' in classical Chinese, so the radical also contributes meaning.

phonetic

束 shù

bundle; bind

Right-side 束 supplies the sound (shù → là, drift via the same Old Chinese cluster reflex). 束 originally pictured a bundle of sticks tied at the middle. Same phonetic in 赖 (lài), 棘 (jí, thorny). Pure phonetic role - the bundling sense doesn't carry into 辣.