丫 (yā): fork, branch, bifurcation

丫 (yā) is a Chinese character meaning “fork.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丷 (structural) and 丨 (structural). It ranks #2551 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 丫 a forked line 丨. Its radical form 丨 (line) appears in many related characters such as 个 (gè, (classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)), 中 (zhōng, (bound form) China), 丰 (fēng, luxuriant).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 丨 line3 strokesFrequency #2551丷 structural 丨 structural

Definitions

fork
branch
bifurcation

Etymology & Origin

丫

ideographicA forked line 丨

Decomposition: ⿱丷丨 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:丷structural 丨structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 丫 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
丫头	yā tou	girl
脚丫	jiǎo yā	(coll.) foot
脚丫子	jiǎo yā zi	(coll.) foot
黄毛丫头	huáng máo yā tou	silly little girl
丫头片子	yā tou piàn zi	(coll.) silly girl
丫巴儿	yā bā r	fork (of a tree, road, argument etc)
颠儿丫子	diān r yā zi	see 顛兒\|颠儿[dian1 r5]
丫子	yā zi	see 腳丫子\|脚丫子[jiao3 ya1 zi5]
撒丫子	sā yā zi	(dialect) to scamper off
丫角	yā jiǎo	traditional hairstyle for children, with two pointy braids, giving it a horn-like appearance
丫环	yā huan	servant girl
丫挺	yā tǐng	(Beijing dialect) bastard
枝丫	zhī yā	variant of 枝椏\|枝桠[zhi1 ya1]
丫杈	yā chà	fork (of a tree)
丫鬟	yā huan	servant girl

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

丫 appears in 16 compound words: 63 as the first character, 13 as the last, and 25 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 丫 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

贴tiē

0.420246 co-occurrences

头tóu

0.3981,014 co-occurrences

南nán

0.3944,152 co-occurrences

陪péi

0.381234 co-occurrences

嫁jià

0.370240 co-occurrences

瘦shòu

0.36266 co-occurrences

疯fēng

0.36154 co-occurrences

唤huàn

0.35554 co-occurrences

蠢chǔn

0.34636 co-occurrences

臭chòu

0.34660 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

黄毛丫头huángmáo yātouHSK 7+

young, inexperienced girl

noun

丫头片子yātou piànziHSK 7+

young girl (who is inexperienced and ignorant)

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我在字典里查到了丫字的详细解释。

wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le yā zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .

I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "丫" in the dictionary.

BastillepostMar 2026

保护绿海龟产卵南丫岛深湾4月1日起设限制地区违规最高罚5...

bǎo hù lǜ hǎi guī chǎn luǎn nán yā dǎo shēn wān 4 yuè 1 rì qǐ shè xiàn zhì dì qū wéi guī zuì gāo fá 5 . . .

English News - RthkMar 2026

保护绿海龟产卵南丫岛深湾4月1日至10月31日设限制地区

bǎo hù lǜ hǎi guī chǎn luǎn nán yā dǎo shēn wān 4 yuè 1 rì zhì 1 0 yuè 3 1 rì shè xiàn zhì dì qū

Tatoeba

我的丫鬟可厉害了。

Wǒ de yāhuan kě lìhai le.

My maid is amazing.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 丫 (yā) mean in Chinese?

丫 (yā) primarily means "fork." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2551 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 丫 have?

丫 is written with 3 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 丫?

The radical associated with 丫 is 丨 (line). This radical appears in many characters related to line.

What are the components of 丫?

丫 is composed of: 丷 (structural), 丨 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱丷丨 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 丫?

Common words with 丫 include: 丫头 (yā tou, "girl"); 脚丫 (jiǎo yā, "(coll.) foot"); 脚丫子 (jiǎo yā zi, "(coll.) foot"); 黄毛丫头 (huáng máo yā tou, "silly little girl"); 丫头片子 (yā tou piàn zi, "(coll.) silly girl"). There are over 16 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 丫 (yā)?

Several characters share the pronunciation yā: 压 (to press), 押 (to mortgage), 鸦 (crow), 鸭 (duck), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 丫 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 丫 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 丫 with real-time feedback

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