How to Write 佧 (kǎ) — Meaning “Ka (used in transliterations)”

Imagine a person (亻) holding a club (like a card, 卡) while saying "Ka!" — the sound is like "ka" in "Karaoke." The visual of a person with a card helps link the left radical and the right part. This mnemonic works because 佧 is only used for transliterating the sound "ka."

Start with the left radical 亻 — write the slant stroke first, then the vertical stroke. Then write the right part 卡: top horizontal, vertical through, middle horizontal, then the bottom stroke (㇏), and finally the vertical hook. A common mistake is making the right part 卡 too wide; keep it balanced with the narrow left radical.

佧 is used only in transliterations (like 佧佤 for Kawa), while 仔 (zǎi) means "young" or "son" (e.g., 仔仔) and 仕 (shì) means "official" or "scholar-official." Visually, 佧 has 卡 on the right, 仔 has 子 (child), and 仕 has 士 (scholar). Their pronunciations and meanings are completely different.

佧 is rarely used outside of transliterating foreign names or ethnic groups, such as 佧佤 (Kawa) and 佧拉 (Kara). It does not appear in daily vocabulary or HSK lists. You might encounter it in geography or anthropology texts discussing minority groups in China.

Common words containing 佧 include: 佧佤 (kǎ wǎ) — Kawa (ethnic group name); 佧拉 (kǎ lā) — Kara (transliteration); 佧片 (kǎ piàn) — Kapian (transliteration).