嗨 (hāi): hi; hey

Meanings

1 hi; hey
2 alas; oh well

Characters

嗨

hāi

hi; hey; alas

Examples

嗨，你好！

Hāi, nǐhǎo!

Hi, hello!

嗨，别提了。

Hāi, biétíle.

Oh well, don't even mention it.

Tips

usage

嗨 as 'hi/hey' is a loanword from English, common among younger speakers. The traditional meaning (hāi) expresses a sigh or regret.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Mouth radical on the left — indexing radical for nearly all interjections, exclamations, and onomatopoeia. 嗨 is a sound made with the mouth (a hailing 'hi' or sighing 'alas'). Family: 啊 (ah), 哎 (alas), 哦 (oh), 喔 (oh), 哈 (ha), 呀 (ya).

phonetic

海 hǎi

sea (here phonetic)

Right 海 supplies the sound — hǎi drifted to hāi with a tone shift. Pure phonetic loan; 'sea' contributes nothing — 嗨 is just the noise. 海 itself is 氵 (water) + 每, 'water everywhere.' Choosing 海 over simpler alternatives gives the modern 'hi' coinage extra graphic weight.