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 | chà zi | branch road |
| 出岔子 | chū chà zi | to go wrong |
| 打岔 | dǎ chà | interruption |
| 岔路 | chà lù | fork in the road |
| 岔开 | chà kāi | to diverge |
| 岔道 | chà dào | side road |
| 岔口 | chà kǒu | junction |
| 道岔 | dào chà | railroad switch |
| 岔流 | 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[Shui3 hu3 Zhuan4] |
| 找岔子 | zhǎo chà zi | to look for blemishes |
| 隔三岔五 | gé sān chà wǔ | variant of 隔三差五[ge2 san1 cha4 wu3] |
| 分岔 | fēn chà | bifurcation |
| 听岔 | tīng chà | to mishear |
| 眼岔 | 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.
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.
头发|冇染发但头发变枯黄开岔?恐用风筒常洗头习惯出事!医生揭4习惯超...
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 . . .
Hair | Not Dyeing Your Hair, But It’s Still Dry, Dull, and Split-Ended? Your Habits of Frequent Hair Washing and Blow-Drying Might Be to Blame! Doctors Reveal 4 Habits That Are Extremely...
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
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.