莎

莎 · shā

kind of sedge grass, used anciently for raincoats

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

kind of sedge grass, used anciently for raincoats

Mandarin
shā
Cantonese
so1

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

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 莎 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

サシャスイ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

はますげ

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

サ シャ スイ はますげ

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

사

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
사
KS X 1001 (0) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

사:0N

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+838E
Radical
艸 · 140
Strokes
10 · Unihan
Residual
7

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

Stroke order

10 strokes
莎
Strokes
10
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

10 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

⿱艹沙(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 莎

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

Component roles · attributed

Source analyses, kept separate from modern IDS. CJKVI labels are not individually verified historical conclusions. Evidence & limits ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
swa · 蘇禾 反切 · #742
Middle Chinese
srae · 所加 反切 · #784

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 6065 · swa = 果合一平戈心 · srae = 假開二平麻生

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
shā
kCantonese
so1
kDefinition
kind of sedge grass, used anciently for raincoats
kTotalStrokes
10
kRSUnicode
140.7
kTGH
2013:4442

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
suō,shā,suī 53224.090
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
shā 0991.030 · suō 1102.050
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
shā 322.120 · suō 353.130
Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
suō粵so1 shā粵saa1
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 莎 ↗

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

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
36dictionary records using 莎0forms using this shape1attributed sound links
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
艹 above 沙 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea
Source notation ^⿱艹沙$(GHTJKP)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 36 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿱艹沙$(GHTJKP)

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