喉 (hóu) · throat; larynx

Meanings

1 throat; larynx

Characters

喉

hóu

throat; larynx

口 (mouth radical) + 侯 (phonetic component giving the hóu sound)

Examples

HSK 6

鱼刺卡在喉里了。

Yúcì kǎ zài hóu lǐ le.

A fish bone got stuck in my throat.

HSK 7-9

他喉咙发炎了。

Tā hóulóng fāyán le.

He has a sore throat.

Tips

usage

喉 is more formal/medical; in everyday speech, 嗓子 (sǎngzi) or 喉咙 (hóulóng) is more common for 'throat.' 喉 appears in compounds like 咽喉 (yānhóu, pharynx) and 喉舌 (hóushé, mouthpiece).

memory

口 (mouth) + 侯 (marquis, phonetic) - the passage below your mouth. The marquis part gives the 'hóu' sound.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Left mouth radical - the indexing radical. 喉 names the throat, the passage immediately behind the mouth. Sits in the mouth-anatomy family with 唇 (lip), 舌 (tongue), 颊 (cheek), and the breath-passage twins 咽 (pharynx) and 嗓 (vocal cords). Anything to do with swallowing and speaking reaches for 口.

phonetic

侯 hóu

marquis; nobleman

Right side 侯 supplies the sound directly (hóu to hóu, exact match). The 'marquis' meaning is unused here; 侯 acts purely as a sound carrier. Same phonetic appears in 猴 (monkey), 候 (await), 堠 (frontier-watchtower) - all sharing the same hóu onset.