岔 (chà): fork in road, bifurcation, branch in road, river, mountain range etc
岔 (chà) is a Chinese character meaning “fork in road.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 分 (structural) and 山 (structural). It ranks #2818 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 岔 a road being split 分 by a mountain 山. Its radical form 山 (mountain) appears in many related characters such as 山 (shān, mountain), 岁 (suì, years old), 岸 (àn, bank).
Definitions
- fork in road
- bifurcation
- branch in road, river, mountain range etc
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA road being split 分 by a mountain 山
Decomposition: ⿱分山 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 岔 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 岔子noun | chà zi | branch road |
| 出岔子verb | chū chà zi | to go wrong |
| 打岔verb | dǎ chà | interruption |
| 岔路noun | chà lù | fork in the road |
| 岔开 | chà kāi | to diverge |
| 岔道noun | chà dào | side road |
| 岔口noun | chà kǒu | junction |
| 道岔noun | dào chà | railroad switch |
| 岔流noun | chà liú | branch stream |
| 三岔口 | sān chà kǒu | At the Crossroads, famous opera, based on a story from 水滸傳|水浒传 |
| 找岔子verb | zhǎo chà zi | to look for blemishes |
| 隔三岔五 | gé sān chà wǔ | variant of 隔三差五 |
| 分岔verb | fēn chà | (formal) to bifurcate |
| 听岔 | tīng chà | to mishear |
| 眼岔verb | yǎn chà | to mistake for sth else |
岔 appears in 19 compound words: 37 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 26 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 岔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
岔字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
chà zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "岔" has different usages in different contexts.
呼吸过于急促或浅表,可能更容易岔气,也会让我们更容易疲劳。
hū xī guò yú jí cù huò qiǎn biǎo , kě néng gēng róng yì chà qì , yě huì ràng wǒ men gēng róng yì pí láo .
Breathing that is too rapid or shallow may make us more prone to shortness of breath and also cause us to tire more easily.
于是下到三分之一左右的位置时,在岔路口切入左侧的小路。
yú shì xià dào sān fēn zhī yī zuǒ yòu de wèi zhì shí , zài chà lù kǒu qiē rù zuǒ cè de xiǎo lù .
So, when you’ve reached about one-third of the way down, turn onto the small path on the left at the fork.
比如文件该怎么命名、某个字段默认填啥、到了某个岔路口该往哪走。
bǐ rú wén jiàn gāi zěn má mìng míng , mǒu gè zì duàn mò rèn tián 啥 , dào le mǒu gè chà lù kǒu gāi wǎng nǎ zǒu .
For example, how to name files, what to enter by default in certain fields, and which path to take when you reach a fork in the road.
残疾男子独自在家 隔三岔五收到邻居送的瓜果蔬菜:感觉很幸福
cán jí nán zǐ dú zì zài jiā gé sān chà wǔ shōu dào lín jū sòng de guā guǒ shū cài : gǎn jué hěn xìng fú
A man with a disability lives alone at home and receives fruits and vegetables from his neighbors every now and then: he feels very happy.
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tóu fā 冇 rǎn fā dàn tóu fā biàn kū huáng kāi chà ? kǒng yòng fēng tǒng cháng xǐ tóu xí guàn chū shì ! yī shēng jiē 4 xí guàn chāo . . .
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我希望您没出什么岔子。
Wǒ xīwàng nín méi chū shénme chàzi.
I hope you did not have any problem.
我们来到了岔路口。
Wǒmen láidào le chàlù kǒu.
We've come to a fork in the road.
我们到达岔路口时,犹豫是继续往城镇走去,还是继续往山上走去。
Wǒmen dàodá chàlù kǒu shí, yóuyù shì jìxù wǎng chéngzhèn zǒuqù, háishi jìxù wǎng Shānshàng zǒuqù.
When we reached the fork, we hesitated between continuing towards the town or continuing towards the mountains.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 岔 (chà) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 岔 have?
What is the radical of 岔?
What are the components of 岔?
What are common words containing 岔?
What characters sound the same as 岔 (chà)?
Is 岔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 岔 with real-time feedback
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