差

差 · chà · chā

to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer

Mandarin
chà · chā
Cantonese
caa1

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

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 差 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

ササイシセタシャ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

さすたかうつかわすやや

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 サイ シ セ タ シャ さす たかう つかわす やや

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

차

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
차
KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

차:0E

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

sai

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

sai

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+5DEE
Radical
工 · 48
Strokes
9 · Unihan
Residual
7

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

Stroke order

9 strokes
差
Strokes
9
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

9 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

⿸⺶工(GPV)
⿸⿱𦍌丿工(HTJK)
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 差

Character connections

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

Follow this component

Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.

History & distinctions

Related forms

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

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
tsrhje · 楚宜 反切 · #120
Middle Chinese
tsrhea · 楚佳 反切 · #330
Middle Chinese
tsrheaj · 楚皆 反切 · #348
Middle Chinese
tsrhae · 初加 反切 · #783
Middle Chinese
tsrheaH · 楚懈 反切 · #2457

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

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 1088 · tsrhje = 止開三平支初 · tsrhea = 蟹開二平佳初 · tsrheaj = 蟹開二平皆初 · tsrhae = 假開二平麻初 · tsrheaH = 蟹開二去佳初

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
chà chā
kCantonese
caa1
kDefinition
to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer
kTotalStrokes
9
kRSUnicode
48.7
kGradeLevel
3
kTGH
2013:1640

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
chā,chà,chāi,chài,cī,cuō,jiē 10413.040
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
chā 0111.030 · chà 0114.150 · chāi 0115.100 · chài 0116.070 · cī 0172.100
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
chā 034.020 · chà 035.180 · chāi 036.010 · cī 054.190
Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
chà(241) chā(60) chāi(26)
Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
chà粵caa1 chā粵caa1 chāi粵caai1 cī粵ci1
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 差 ↗

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

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
151dictionary records using 差10forms using this shape2attributed sound links
⿸ Upper-left enclosure

Shape description
⺶ wraps around 工 from the upper left · the shape used in China, North Korea, Vietnam
Source notation ^⿸⺶工$(GPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 151 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿸⺶工$(GPV)

^⿸⿱𦍌丿工$(HTJK)

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