呀 (yā) is a Chinese character meaning “ah!”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 牙 (tooth), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “ah! (surprise)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
口 + 牙
Left–right structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (口 3 strokes + 牙 4 strokes = 7)
Memory aid
A mouth (口) opens so wide you can see the tooth (牙) — that is the sound of surprise bursting out: yā!
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 哎呀āi yāoh dear!; oh my!; wow!呀 = yā
Go deeper
All readings
ah! (surprise)
ah!; oh!; an exclamation of surprise or sudden realisation
叹词，表示惊讶或突然发觉。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 哎呀āi yāoh dear!; oh my!; wow!呀 = yā
Sound component
牙 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 呀 mean?
呀 (yā) means ah!; oh!; an exclamation of surprise or sudden realisation.
How do you pronounce 呀?
It is pronounced yā.
What parts is 呀 made of?
口 (mouth) and 牙 (tooth), side by side. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (口 3 strokes + 牙 4 strokes = 7). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 呀 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 呀?
口. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 呀?
Common ones are 哎呀. The reading of 呀 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.