(): (onom.) sound of cawing, sound of infant learning to talk, mute, dumb, incapable of speech

() is a Chinese character meaning “(onom.) sound of cawing.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2298 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, mouth. Its radical form (mouth) appears in many related characters such as (kǒu, mouth), (jiào, to call, to be called), (yòu, (bound form) right).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (onom.) sound of cawing
  2. sound of infant learning to talk
  3. mute
  4. dumb
  5. incapable of speech

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticmouth

Decomposition: ⿰口亚 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
nounyǎ baa mute
nounyǎ jùpantomime
adjectiveshā yǎhoarse
nounlóng yǎ réna deaf and mute person
nounyǎ língdumbbell (weight)
adjectivelóng yǎdeaf and nonverbal
yǎ mípuzzle
phrasezhuāng lóng zuò yǎto play deaf-mute
adjectivesī yǎ(onom.) coarse crowing
nounyǎ yǔsign language
yǎ dàndud
yǎ rán shī xiàoto laugh involuntarily
verbchī yǎ ba kuīto be forced to suffer in silence
yǎ ba chī huáng lián , yǒu kǔ shuō bu chūto be forced to suffer in silence (idiom)
phraseyǎ kǒu wú yándumbstruck and unable to reply (idiom)
30
Total compounds
60
As first character
20
As last character
20
As middle character

appears in 30 compound words: 60 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

lóng
0.746698 co-occurrences
líng
0.564184 co-occurrences
sǎng
0.52864 co-occurrences
máng
0.46590 co-occurrences
0.44628 co-occurrences
xiā
0.42214 co-occurrences
mèi
0.40918 co-occurrences
dàn
0.391108 co-occurrences
shā
0.386214 co-occurrences
0.384204 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

chī yǎbakuīHSK 7+

to be unable to speak out about one’s grievances

verb
yǎkǒuwúyánHSK 7+

to be speechless in response to being interrogated or refuted

phrase
yǎ rán shī xiàoHSK 7+

to laugh involuntarily; Taiwan pr.

phrase
zhuānglóngzuòyǎHSK 7+

to pretend to not know; to deliberately to not ask or listen

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

下这杯茶,解解渴再继续工作。

qǐng yā xià zhè bēi chá , xiè xiè kě zài jì xù gōng zuò .

Please take a sip of this tea to quench your thirst before continuing your work.

少数派Jul 2026

按键这边,采用光银配色并且个头饱满圆润,但都有一点非常轻微的松垮和晃动。

àn jiàn zhè biān , cǎi yòng yā guāng yín pèi sè bìng qiě gè tóu bǎo mǎn yuán rùn , dàn dōu yǒu yī diǎn fēi cháng qīng wēi de sōng kuǎ hé huǎng dòng .

The buttons feature a matte silver finish and have a plump, rounded shape, but they all exhibit a very slight amount of play and wobble.

爱范儿Jul 2026

整体的形状像个铃。

zhěng tǐ de xíng zhuàng xiàng gè yā líng .

The overall shape resembles a dumbbell.

少数派Jun 2026

壳是亲肤的光材质,手感顺滑,相机按钮和开孔等细节也有着很好的做工。

qiào shì qīn fū de yā guāng cái zhì , shǒu gǎn shùn huá , xiāng jī àn niǔ hé kāi kǒng děng xì jié yě yǒu zhe hěn hǎo de zuò gōng .

The case is made of a skin-friendly matte material that feels smooth to the touch, and the camera buttons, cutouts, and other details are also very well crafted.

少数派Jun 2026

后续你可以继续叠加欧缇丽控油光乳使用,利用硅石和木薯淀粉来吸附油脂,实现物理控油。

hòu xù nǐ kě yǐ jì xù dié jiā ōu 缇 lí kòng yóu yā guāng rǔ shǐ yòng , lì yòng 硅 shí hé mù shǔ diàn fěn lái xī fù yóu zhī , shí xiàn wù lǐ kòng yóu .

Afterward, you can follow up with the Eutique Oil-Control Matte Lotion, which uses silica and tapioca starch to absorb excess oil and provide physical oil control.

LtnFeb 2026

...白春节鹿港老街卖饼 累到双耳耳鸣、声音沙

. . . bái chūn jié lù gǎng lǎo jiē mài bǐng lěi dào shuāng ěr ěr míng , shēng yīn shā yā

... Selling cakes in Lukang Old Street during the Spring Festival is so tired that my ears have tinnitus and my voice is hoarse

Tatoeba

海伦凯勒眼盲,耳聋,又

Hǎilún kǎi lè yǎn máng, ěrlóng, yòu yā.

Helen Keller was blind, deaf and dumb.

Tatoeba

的人用手语说话。

Lóngyǎ de rén yòng shǒuyǔ shuōhuà.

Deaf-mute people talk using sign language.

Tatoeba

他们全都叫到沙了。

Tāmen quándōu jiào dào shāyǎ le.

They were all hoarse from shouting.

Tatoeba

她注视着一个不明飞行物,口无言。

Tā zhùshì zhe yī gè bùmíngfēixíngwù, yǎkǒuwúyán.

She stared at a UFO in silence.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 口 (mouth) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 哑 (yā) mean in Chinese?
哑 (yā) primarily means "(onom.) sound of cawing." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2298 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 哑 and 恶?
哑 (yā) and 恶 (è) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 口 vs 忄 (same 亚 component).
How many strokes does 哑 have?
哑 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 哑?
The radical associated with 哑 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 哑?
哑 is composed of: 口 (semantic), 亚 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰口亚 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 哑?
Common words with 哑 include: 哑巴 (yǎ ba, "a mute"); 哑剧 (yǎ jù, "pantomime"); 沙哑 (shā yǎ, "hoarse"); 聋哑人 (lóng yǎ rén, "a deaf and mute person"); 哑铃 (yǎ líng, "dumbbell (weight)"). There are over 30 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 哑 (yā)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yā: 亚 (Asia), 压 (to press), 呀 (ah (used to express surprise)), 牙 (tooth), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 哑 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 哑 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.