嚥 meaning and stroke order
To swallow, to gulp
How to write 嚥, stroke by stroke
19 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 嚥
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to swallow
How 嚥 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 燕 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 嚥
嚥 is 口 (mouth) plus 燕 (yàn, swallow the bird), which also gives the sound. Picture a swallow diving into a mouth, and you have the verb "to swallow."
嚥 is the traditional variant of 咽 in its yàn reading, meaning to swallow food or drink. Today most texts, including mainland simplified Chinese, write 咽 instead, as in 咽下 (yànxià). Example: 他把药嚥下去了。(Tā bǎ yào yàn xiàqù le.) He swallowed the medicine.
Common mistake: Learners often read 咽 as yān in every word. In the sense of swallowing, as in 狼吞虎咽 (lángtūnhǔyàn), it is fourth tone yàn, and 嚥 is only ever used for this meaning.
Common words with 嚥
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 嚥
How many strokes are in 嚥?
嚥 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嚥 mean?
嚥 (yàn) means to swallow, to gulp. A common word with it is 狼吞虎咽 (lángtūnhǔyàn), meaning "to wolf down one's food (idiom); to devour ravenously; to gorge oneself".
How do you pronounce 嚥?
嚥 is pronounced yàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 嚥?
The radical of 嚥 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嚥 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 嚥?
嚥 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 咽, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 嚥 and 咽?
咽 has several readings: yān (throat, as in 咽喉), yàn (to swallow), and yè (to choke with sobs). 嚥 only covers the yàn meaning, so it is a more specific variant. In simplified Chinese, 咽 is used for all of them.
Is 嚥 still used today?
You may see it in Taiwan, Hong Kong, older books, or formal traditional texts. In everyday mainland writing, 咽 is standard, so learn 咽 first and recognize 嚥 when reading.