Definitions

zhà (verb) to explode; to burst; to blow up
zhá (verb) to deep fry

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

About

The character 炸 is a phono-semantic compound formed by the fire radical 火 and the phonetic component 乍, originally conceived to represent actions involving sudden, intense heat or violent expansion. Its core meaning historically revolved around bursting or exploding, as seen in terms like 爆炸, with a subsequent semantic extension to the culinary method of frying in oil, such as in 炸鸡, where the rapid, vigorous process mirrors the character's explosive connotations. This dual application emerged from the conceptual link between the two actions, while the structural integrity of the character has been preserved, with the phonetic 乍 providing a stable auditory reference despite minor tonal variations that distinguish between its explosive and cooking senses.

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈了薯条。

Māmā zhá le shǔ tiáo.

Mom fried French fries.

弹爆了。

Zhà dàn bào zhà le.

The bomb exploded.

气球开了。

Qìqiú zhà kāi le.

The balloon burst open.

他们正在鱼。

Tāmen zhèngzài zhá yú.

They are frying fish.

食品不健康。

Yóu zhá shípǐn bù jiànkāng.

Fried food is not healthy.

那个工厂被毁了。

Nàge gōngchǎng bèi zhà huǐ le.

That factory was blown up.

声吓坏了小孩。

Bàozhà shēng xià huài le xiǎo hái.

The sound of explosion scared the child.

恐怖分子试图掉大桥。

Kǒngbù fènzǐ shìtú zhà diào dà qiáo.

The terrorists attempted to blow up the bridge.