字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

sand

On’yomi サ、シャ
Kun’yomi すな
Nanori いさ、ご

Origin

This character combines stone (石), which classifies the material as something rocky or mineral, with a sound hint (少) that suggests the pronunciation. The left part tells you the character is about a stone-like substance, while the right part gives you a clue to how it's pronounced. Together they represent sand, which is essentially tiny pieces of stone.

砂 9 strokes

Components

  • 石 radical left
  • 少 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

  • 砂丘 さきゅう sand dune; sand hill
  • 砂糖 さとう sugar
  • 砂浜 すなはま sandy beach
  • 砂防 さぼう erosion control
  • 砂利 じゃり gravel; ballast
  • 砂漠 さばく desert
  • 土砂 どしゃ sediment; earth and sand
  • 砂時計 すなどけい hourglass; sandglass

Related kanji

Same sound component 少
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
112
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1146 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+07802