龈 (yín): gums (of the teeth)

Meanings

1 gums (of the teeth)

Characters

龈

yín

gums

Examples

HSK 7-9

刷牙方法不当，时间长了会损伤牙龈。

Shuāyá fāngfǎ bùdàng, shíjiān cháng le huì sǔnshāng yáyín.

Brushing your teeth wrong over time can damage the gums.

HSK 7-9

牙龈出血常常是牙周病的早期信号。

Yáyín chūxuè chángcháng shì yázhōubìng de zǎoqī xìnhào.

Bleeding gums are often an early sign of periodontal disease.

HSK 7-9

牙医建议我做一次超声洁牙，清除龈下牙结石。

Yáyī jiànyì wǒ zuò yī cì chāoshēng jiéyá, qīngchú yínxià yájiéshí.

The dentist recommended I get an ultrasonic cleaning to remove tartar from below the gums.

Tips

usage

The everyday word is 牙龈 - the standard term for 'gums' in dentistry, health writing, and everyday speech. Common compounds: 牙龈炎 (gingivitis), 牙龈出血 (bleeding gums), 龈下 (subgingival), 龈乳头 (gingival papilla). The classical lexicon also includes 齿龈 - same meaning, more literary register, also used in phonetics for 'alveolar' (sounds made at the alveolar ridge).

mistakes

龈 has a second reading 龈 - an old variant of 啃 (to gnaw / nibble). Modern Chinese always writes 'gnaw' as 啃, so the kěn reading of 龈 survives only in classical texts. For the 'gums' sense (the everyday one) it is always yín.

Components

radical

齿 chǐ

tooth

Left tooth radical (Kangxi #211). The semantic anchor - the gums are the flesh in which teeth are set, so the radical naturally files 龈 in the dental anatomy family alongside 龇 (bare teeth), 龋 (decay), 齿 (tooth).

phonetic

艮 gěn

stop; tough; supplying the sound

Right phonetic 艮 - supplies the sound (gěn to yín / kěn, a regular shift). The same phonetic anchors 根 (root), 跟 (heel / with), 很 (very), 恨 (hate), 痕 (mark).