刁

acts mainly as a sound marker · Kangxi radical

acts mainly as a sound marker, supplying the reading diāo

The origin of 刁 is unclear; it looks like a knife 刀 with the final stroke pulled into a hook, and it is usually explained as a deliberately altered writing of that graph rather than a picture of anything on its own. Whatever its source, the meaning "sly, tricky" it carries as a standalone word plays no part in the characters built from it. In 叼, holding something in the mouth, the mouth 口 gives the sense and 刁 simply tells you the word sounds like diāo.

刁 at a glance

Meaning

acts mainly as a sound marker

Strokes

2

Characters

1

Role

Contributes sound

Characters with 刁

Frequently asked questions