争

争 · zhēng

dispute, fight, contend, strive

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

dispute, fight, contend, strive

Mandarin
zhēng
Cantonese
zaang1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 争 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ソウ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

あらそうあらそいいかでか

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ソウ あらそう あらそい いかでか

Korean 한국어

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+4E89
Radical
亅 · 6
Strokes
6 · Unihan
Residual
5

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

6 strokes
争
Strokes
6
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

6 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿱⺈⿻{43}亅(GHTJKP)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 争

Character connections

10 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

History & distinctions

Related forms

爭

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
zhēng
kCantonese
zaang1
kDefinition
dispute, fight, contend, strive
kTotalStrokes
6
kRSUnicode
6.5
kTraditionalVariant
U+4E89 U+722D
kSimplifiedVariant
U+4E89
kTGH
2013:508

Readings across dictionaries

Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
zhēng 1472.030
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 争 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
144dictionary records using 争11forms using this shape0attributed sound links

A complete parsed description is unavailable for this endpoint. It is not assumed to be an indivisible unit.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 144 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱⺈⿻{43}亅$(GHTJKP) · preserved, not fully parsed

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.