How to Write 呔 (dāi) — Meaning “Hey! / Halt! (interjection)”

Imagine a guard with a big mouth (口) yelling "Stop!" so loudly that you think it is "too" (太) much noise. The word "too" sounds like "tài" but helps you picture the right side of the character. This mental image links the mouth and the 太 component to the meaning of a sudden shout.

Write the left part 口 first with 3 strokes: vertical, top horizontal + right vertical as one stroke, then bottom horizontal. Then write 太 on the right with 4 strokes: horizontal, left diagonal, right diagonal, and finally the dot at the bottom right. A common mistake is forgetting the dot in 太 or making the left stroke of 太 too long, which changes the proportion.

The key visual difference is the right component: 呔 has 太 (a big shape with a dot), 卟 has 卜 (a vertical line with a small dot on top), and 古 has 十 (a cross). Meaning-wise, 呔 is a loud interjection, 卟 is used for the sound of spitting or divination, and 古 means "ancient." In usage, 呔 appears in dramatic shouts while 卟 and 古 are more common in other contexts.

呔 is rarely used in everyday modern speech; it appears mostly in classic literature, martial arts novels, or historical dramas as a forceful exclamation like "Halt!" or "Hey!" To sound authentic in such settings, a character might shout "呔!" to stop someone, but it is not a natural word for casual conversation. It carries a theatrical and slightly old-fashioned feeling.

Common words containing 呔 include: 呔 (dāi) — Hey! / Halt! (interjection).