呛 (qiāng) · to choke (from swallowing the wrong way)

Meanings

1 to choke (from swallowing the wrong way)

Characters

呛

qiāng

to choke

Examples

HSK 1

我喝水呛到了。

Wǒ hē shuǐ qiāng dào le.

I drank water and choked on it.

HSK 3

他吃得太急，被饭呛了一下。

Tā chī de tài jí, bèi fàn qiāng le yíxià.

He ate too fast and choked on a mouthful of rice.

Tips

usage

qiāng (first tone) is the inward sense: food or liquid going down the wrong pipe so you cough or gag - 呛到 (to choke on something). The separate qiàng (fourth tone) is the outward sense: a strong smell or smoke irritating your nose and throat, and the very common colloquial 够呛 (pretty awful, a tall order).

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Left-side mouth radical, a small square opening. It anchors 呛 as something that happens at the mouth and throat - choking on food gone the wrong way, gagging on acrid fumes. Same family includes 咳 (to cough), 喝 (to drink) and 吞 (to swallow).

phonetic

仓 cāng

storehouse

Right side 仓 supplies the sound - cāng shifting to qiāng. Originally 仓 pictured a granary with a sloped roof; here it is purely phonetic. The same phonetic feeds 抢 (to snatch), 枪 (gun) and 苍 (deep green).