呛 (qiàng) — to choke (from swallowing the wrong way or from smoke, fumes, etc.)
Definition
呛 (qiàng) means food or drink 'going down the wrong way' and causing a coughing fit. Unlike 窒息 (suffocation, no air), 呛 is a brief, involuntary spasm, not a sustained loss of air.
verb
to choke (from swallowing the wrong way or from smoke, fumes, etc.)
Examples
- 呛，。Tā bèi shuǐ qiàng le yí xià, hāi le hěn jiǔ.He choked on water and coughed for a long time.
- ，呛。Yān tài nóng le, qiàng dé wǒ yì zhí ké sou.The smoke was so thick that it made me cough constantly.
- ，呛。Tā chī huā shēng de shí hou, chà diǎn qiàng zhù.He almost choked while eating peanuts.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 嗆; 呛 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng嗆qiāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 嗆 pairs 口 (mouth) with 倉, which gives the sound; the simplified 呛 is a shorthand, so its right side is not a sound part.
Appears in
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