鸦 (yā): crow
鸦 (yā) is a Chinese character meaning “crow.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 牙 (phonetic) and 鸟 (semantic). It ranks #2323 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 鸦 bird. Its radical form 鸟 (bird) appears in many related characters such as 鸡 (jī, chicken), 鸟 (niǎo, bird), 鸭 (yā, duck).
Definitions
- crow
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 鸦 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 乌鸦noun | wū yā | crow |
| 涂鸦verb | tú yā | graffiti |
| 鸦片 | yā piàn | (loanword) opium |
| 鸦雀无声phrase | yā què wú shēng | lit. crow and peacock make no sound |
| 渡鸦noun | dù yā | (bird species of China) common raven (Corvus corax) |
| 第二次鸦片战争 | dì èr cì yā piàn zhàn zhēng | the Second Opium War (1856–1860) |
| 里海地鸦 | lǐ hǎi dì yā | (bird species of China) Turkestan ground jay |
| 天下乌鸦一般黑proverb | tiān xià wū yā yī bān hēi | all crows are black (idiom) |
| 鸦片战争proper-noun | yā piàn zhàn zhēng | the Opium War (1839–1842) |
| 水老鸦 | shuǐ lǎo yā | common name for cormorant |
| 白尾地鸦 | bái wěi dì yā | (bird species of China) Xinjiang ground jay (Podoces biddulphi) |
| 黑尾地鸦 | hēi wěi dì yā | (bird species of China) Mongolian ground jay (Podoces hendersoni) |
| 红嘴山鸦 | hóng zuǐ shān yā | (bird species of China) red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) |
| 黄嘴山鸦noun | huáng zuǐ shān yā | (bird species of China) alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) |
| 达乌里寒鸦 | dá wū lǐ hán yā | (bird species of China) Daurian jackdaw (Coloeus dauuricus) |
鸦 appears in 52 compound words: 10 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 48 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 鸦 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
乌鸦是聪明的鸟类，会使用工具获取食物。
Wūyā shì cōngming de niǎolèi, huì shǐyòng gōngjù huòqǔ shíwù.
Crows are intelligent birds that use tools to obtain food.
《水光涂鸦》装置前，光被手“玩”出各种花样。
shuǐ guāng tú yā zhuāng zhì qián , guāng bèi shǒu wán chū gè zhǒng huā yàng .
In front of the “Water Light Sketches” installation, light is “played with” by hands to create all sorts of patterns.
我们先随手画了一张草图，就像一张粗糙的涂鸦。
wǒ men xiān suí shǒu huà le yī zhāng cǎo tú , jiù xiàng yī zhāng cū cāo de tú yā .
We started by sketching something off the top of our heads—it looked like a rough doodle.
台下鸦雀无声，只有大别山的风从乐池中呜咽而起。
tái xià yā qiāo wú shēng , zhī yǒu dà bié shān de fēng cóng lè chí zhōng wū yān ér qǐ .
The audience was deathly silent; only the wind from the Dabie Mountains rose from the orchestra pit with a mournful wail.
“像素涂鸦”则提供了官方制作的各种像素素材供你选择。
xiàng sù tú yā zé tí gōng le guān fāng zhì zuò de gè zhǒng xiàng sù sù cái gōng nǐ xuǎn zé .
"Pixel Doodle" offers a variety of officially created pixel art assets for you to choose from.
空白的墙面上画满了海浪、鲸鱼等涂鸦，营造出浓厚的海洋文化氛围。
kōng bái de qiáng miàn shàng huà mǎn le hǎi làng , jīng yú děng tú yā , yíng zào chū nóng hòu de hǎi yáng wén huà fēn wéi .
The blank walls are covered with graffiti depicting waves, whales, and other marine motifs, creating a strong sense of maritime culture.
宗教是人民的鸦片。
Zōngjiào shì rénmín de yāpiàn.
Religion is the opium of the people.
突然间，鸦雀无声。
Tūrán jiān, yāquèwúshēng.
Suddenly, everything fell silent.
这只乌鸦飞走了。
Zhè zhī wūyā fēi zǒu le.
The crow flew away.
Character Family
鸟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the bird radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 鸦 (yā) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 鸦 have?
What is the radical of 鸦?
What are the components of 鸦?
What are common words containing 鸦?
What characters sound the same as 鸦 (yā)?
Is 鸦 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 鸦 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.