唇

chún
noun #4,170

Meanings

  1. 1 lip
  2. 2 lips

Characters

Examples

HSK 5
Tā de zuǐchún hěn hóng.
Her lips are very red.
HSK 5
Tā yǎo le yǎo chún.
He bit his lip.

Tips

usage
唇 is often used in compound words: 嘴唇 (lips), 唇膏 (lipstick), 唇语 (lip reading). On its own, 唇 is more literary; 嘴唇 is the everyday term.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
Bottom 口 is the indexing mouth radical - a small square depicting the lips parted to speak or eat. It locks 唇 onto the body part it names: the lips frame the mouth, so the mouth radical sits beneath the phonetic top. Same family of mouth-anatomy and mouth-action chars: 吻 to kiss, 喉 throat, 舌 tongue, 吃 eat.
phonetic
辰 chén
5th earthly branch; dragon hour (here phonetic)
Top 辰 supplies the sound - chén drifting to chún with regular nasal-coda shift. 辰 originally pictured a clam or shellfish opening its shell, which gives a faint visual fit with parted lips. Same phonetic spawns 振 to shake, 晨 dawn, 娠 pregnant - though only 唇 and 蜃 mussel keep the chún-rhyme.

Stroke Order

唇 chún