漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
砂: sand
石 carries the meaning · 少 gives the sound
Three readings, and the words that use each
サsa · on'yomi · in compounds
- 砂漠さばくdesert
- 砂丘さきゅうsand dune, sand hill
- 砂州さすreef, sandbar, sandbank
- 砂糖さとうsugar
- 砂金さきんgold dust
シャsha · on'yomi
- 土砂どしゃearth and sand
- 土砂崩れどしゃくずれlandslide
すなsuna · kun'yomi · on its own
- 砂すなsand
- 砂地すなちsandy soil
- 砂場すなばsand pit
- 砂浜すなはまsandy beach
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 砂利じゃりgravel
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)石 stone (meaning) + 沙, as 少 (sound)
Originally, this character was a variant form of 沙, a Pictogram (象形) that represents the appearance of sand along a riverbank.
Source: Wiktionary, 砂 (rev. 92690389), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Stone + few/small (少) = the millions of tiny pieces of stone that gather together to make up a beach of sand.”
Connections
Also built on few (少)
The 少 family reads ショウ (shou); 砂 is read サ、シャ.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shā
Same form: 砂 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 砂 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 砂 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin shā most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.