炸

A phono-semantic compound:

火 (화) — semantic component, indicating fire, heat, combustion

乍 (사) — phonetic component, supplying the sound and the nuance of suddenness

The character originally conveys a sudden fiery action, which branches into two concrete domains: explosion and high-heat frying.

Semantic development:

- sudden combustion — explosion, detonation

- high-heat cooking — frying in oil

- metaphorical spread — abrupt expansion (news, sound, emotion)

炸 is used in both military/technical and culinary contexts, with distinct readings.

Explosion-related (작, zhà):

작렬 (炸裂) — explosion; detonation

작약 (炸藥) — explosive; blasting powder

폭작 (爆炸) — explosion

작음 (炸音) — explosive sound (linguistics/phonetics)

Cooking-related (찰, zhá):

찰계 (炸鸡 / 炸鷄) — fried chicken

찰장면 (炸醬麵 / 炸酱面) — zhajiangmian (black bean sauce noodles)

유찰 (油炸) — deep-fry in oil

Figurative uses:

소문이 퍼지다 — news “explodes” (suddenly spreads)

감정이 폭발하다 — emotions burst out

Unlike 爆 (violent explosion), 炸 emphasizes suddenness and internal bursting; unlike 煎/炸(조리) contrasts, 炸 implies oil and intense heat.

Related characters (explosion & frying):

爆 — explode; burst violently

裂 — split; crack

煎 — pan-fry

炒 — stir-fry

烹 — cook (general)

Among these, 炸 bridges explosive force and culinary frying through the shared notion of sudden heat release.