砂

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sand; gravel; granule; variant of 沙[sha1]

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Formation & memory

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Ideographic compound (会意字)

Many small 少 stones 石; 少 also provides the pronunciation

Components 石少

gravel · Heisig RSH #126

少 few + 石 stone

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
打破砂锅问到底	dǎ pò shā guō wèn dào dǐ	to go to the bottom of things (idiom)
白砂糖	bái shā táng	white granulated sugar
粉砂石	fěn shā shí	siltstone
砂子	shā zi	sand
海砂	hǎi shā	variant of 海沙[hai3 sha1]
砂石	shā shí	sandstone; sand and stone; aggregate
磨砂机	mó shā jī	sander; sanding machine
砂拉越	Shā lā yuè	see 沙撈越\|沙捞越[Sha1 lao1 yue4]
河砂	hé shā	variant of 河沙[he2 sha1]
油砂	yóu shā	oil sand (mining)
磨石粗砂岩	mó shí cū shā yán	millstone grit
粉砂岩	fěn shā yán	siltstone
铁砂	tiě shā	shot (in shotgun); pellets
采砂场	cǎi shā chǎng	sandpit; sand quarry
海砂屋	hǎi shā wū	house built with cheap, unreliable concrete which contains a high quantity of sea sand
金刚砂	jīn gāng shā	carborundum; emery
砂轮	shā lún	grinding wheel; emery wheel
粉砂	fěn shā	silt
砂糖	shā táng	granulated sugar
砂纸	shā zhǐ	sandpaper (i.e. abrasive)