字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

counter for bows & stringed instruments, stretch, spread, put up (tent)

On’yomi チョウ
Kun’yomi は.る、-は.り、-ば.り
Nanori はり、わり

Origin

This character combines a bow on the left with a sound hint on the right. The bow radical is the key to meaning—drawing a bow requires pulling the string tight, which connects to the idea of stretching or spreading something taut. The component on the right tells you roughly how to pronounce the character (like "long" in Chinese), but doesn't add to the meaning. Over time, the same stretching action came to describe putting up a tent or spreading something open, and then to count bows and stringed instruments, which all involve that characteristic pulling or tensioning motion.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

張 11 strokes

Components

  • 弓 radical left
  • 長 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 拡張 かくちょう expansion; extension
  • 緊張 きんちょう tension; strain
  • 誇張 こちょう exaggeration
  • 主張 しゅちょう claim; insistence
  • 出張 しゅっちょう business trip; official trip
  • 張る はる to stick; to paste
  • 膨張 ぼうちょう expansion; swelling
  • 張り ばり in the style of (esp. literary, artistic, etc. works); reminiscent of

Related kanji

Same sound component 長
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
57
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#403 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+05F35