吟 (yín): to chant

Meanings

1 to chant
2 to recite
3 to intone
4 verse (in poem titles)

Characters

吟

yín

to chant; to recite

Examples

他在月下吟诗。

Tā zài yuè xià yínshī.

He recited poetry under the moonlight.

老师带我们吟诵古诗。

Lǎoshī dài wǒmen yín sòng gǔshī.

The teacher led us in chanting classical poems.

Tips

culture

吟 often appears in titles of classical Chinese poems, like 白居易's 长恨歌 or 李白's works. 吟诗 (to chant poetry) is a quintessential image of Chinese literati.

memory

口 (mouth) + 今 (now) = the sound coming from a mouth right now — chanting or reciting aloud.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth (radical)

Left mouth radical — the indexing radical, an open square that anchors 吟 in the vocalisation family with 唱 to sing, 哼 to hum, 咏 to recite, 叹 to sigh. Here it captures the breath-driven act of chanting or murmuring verse aloud, the characteristic recital style of classical Chinese poetry.

phonetic

今 jīn

now (here phonetic)

Right 今 supplies the sound, drifting from jīn to yín along the j-/y- palatal series. The 'now' sense plays no part; pure sound peg. Same phonetic powers 念 to recite, 含 to hold in the mouth, 琴 zither, 阴 shade — several have faint resonance with 吟 around held breath and soft sound.