verb HSK 5 #3,036

Meanings

  1. 1 to scold; to curse at
  2. 2 to rebuke; to verbally abuse

Examples

HSK 3
Māma mà le tā yí dùn.
Mom gave him a good scolding.
HSK 3
Tā bèi lǎobǎn mà le.
He was scolded by the boss.
HSK 5
Fùmǔ bù yīnggāi yánlì de mà háizi.
Parents shouldn't harshly scold their children.

Tips

usage
covers a range from mild scolding to harsh cursing. 骂人 = to curse/swear at someone. 被骂 = to be scolded. 挨骂 = to get scolded (often used by children about parents/teachers).
usage
骂街 = to curse in the street (make a public scene). 对骂 = to trade insults. 臭骂 = to give a severe dressing-down.

Components

radical
horse (radical, phonetic)
Bottom horse - the indexing radical, but its job here is purely phonetic: mǎ drifts in tone to mà. The 1956 reform attached the radical position to the phonetic so could be looked up by ; the doubled mouths above carry all the meaning. No horse in the cursing.
semantic
kǒu
mouth (semantic, left of pair)
Top-left mouth - half of a doubled-mouth depicting loud agitated speech. Two mouths spilling words at once is the visual definition of : shouting, cursing, hurling abuse. Same doubling logic as to weep (paired mouths over ). The pair sits over below.
semantic
kǒu
mouth (semantic, right of pair)
Top-right mouth - second of the paired mouths. The repetition emphasizes vehemence: not one mouth, but two pouring forth at once. Together the doubled-mouth carries the entire semantic load of ; the bottom only supplies sound.

Stroke Order