呵 (hē) · ah, oh, to breathe out

Meanings

1 ah
2 oh
3 to breathe out
4 to scold

Characters

呵

hē

exclamation; to breathe out

Examples

HSK 4

呵，原来是你！

Hē, yuánlái shì nǐ!

Ah, so it's you!

HSK 4

她用手呵了一口气。

Tā yòng shǒu hē le yī kǒu qì.

She breathed warm air onto her hands.

Tips

usage

呵 has multiple pronunciations: hē (exclamation, to breathe out), hè (to scold 呵斥), ā (variant of 啊). In internet slang, 呵呵 can express sarcasm or cold dismissal.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Left 口 is the indexing mouth radical - parted lips drawn as a small square. Anchors 呵 in the family of vocal-output words: 吹 blow, 唱 sing, 喊 shout, 叹 sigh. The radical tells the reader this comes out of a mouth - fitting for both the laughing 'hē hē' interjection and the scolding sense.

phonetic

可 kě

may; can (here phonetic)

Right 可 supplies the sound - kě shifting to hē via the well-attested k/h alternation that also gives 河 river, 何 what, 荷 lotus. Pure phonetic loan; the 'can/may' meaning of 可 contributes nothing. Same phonetic family runs through 歌 song, 哥 elder brother, 阿 prefix particle.