萨 (sà) is a Chinese character meaning “used to transliterate foreign sounds, e”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 产 (to produce; to give birth), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “sa (as in bodhisattva)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
艹 + 阝 + 产
Top–bottom structure
- 艹 grass / plant radical · cǎo unknown
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù unknown
- 产 to produce; to give birth · chǎn unknown
Structure from: 现代字形核对：hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组（艹 0–2，阝 3–4，产 5–10）
Memory aid
Grass (艹) on top; below it, a hillside (阝) where something is produced (产). Picture a Bodhisattva statue being made on a grassy hill — 萨 as in 菩萨.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 菩萨pú sàbodhisattva; Buddhist deity萨 = sà
Go deeper
All readings
used for the sound "sa" in transliterations
used to transliterate foreign sounds, e.g. in 菩萨 (bodhisattva)
多用于音译外来词，如「菩萨」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 菩萨pú sàbodhisattva; Buddhist deity萨 = sà
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 萨 mean?
萨 (sà) means used to transliterate foreign sounds, e.g. in 菩萨 (bodhisattva).
How do you pronounce 萨?
It is pronounced sà.
What parts is 萨 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)) and 产 (to produce; to give birth), one above the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形核对：hanzi-writer-data 笔画分组（艹 0–2，阝 3–4，产 5–10）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 萨 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 萨?
艹. 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 萨?
Common ones are 菩萨. The reading of 萨 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.