咢

è
verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to sing without instruments; to beat a drum; startled (archaic)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhè tiáo hé lǐ yǒu hěnduō èyú.
There are many crocodiles in this river.

Tips

history
咢 ('to chant unaccompanied / startled') is archaic and not used independently in modern Chinese. It survives as the phonetic in 颚 (jaw), 鳄 (crocodile), 愕 (stunned), 萼 (calyx of a flower), and 谔 (to speak frankly).

Components

semantic
吅 xuān
two mouths; loud calling
Two 'mouth' squares on top stand for loud, repeated calling - the unaccompanied chanting sense of 咢.
ideograph
丂 kǎo
rising breath
The lower 'breath' element shows the voice forced out, completing the picture of vigorous chanting in 咢.

Filed under radical 口 (kǒu, #30) by convention. 口 is not a separate component in 咢, so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order

咢 è