咽 (yān): throat, pharynx, narrow pass, to choke (in crying)
咽 (yān) is a Chinese character meaning “throat.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 因 (phonetic). It ranks #2000 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 咽 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- throat
- pharynx
- narrow pass
- to choke (in crying)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 咽 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 咽下verb | yàn xià | to swallow |
| 咽喉noun | yān hóu | throat |
| 狼吞虎咽phrase | láng tūn hǔ yàn | to wolf down one's food (idiom) |
| 吞咽verb | tūn yàn | to swallow |
| 咽气verb | yàn qì | to die |
| 呜咽verb | wū yè | to sob |
| 哽咽verb | gěng yè | to choke with emotion |
| 咽炎noun | yān yán | pharyngitis |
| 咽下困难 | yàn xià kùn nán | dysphagia (medicine) |
| 打掉门牙，往肚子里咽 | dǎ diào mén yá , wǎng dù zi lǐ yàn | lit. to swallow one's knocked-out teeth after getting punched in the face (idiom) |
| 下咽noun | xià yān | (anatomy) hypopharynx |
| 前咽 | qián yān | prepharynx (biology) |
| 咽头noun | yān tóu | pharynx |
| 咽鼓管noun | yān gǔ guǎn | Eustachian tube (linking the pharynx 咽 to the tympanic cavity 鼓室 of the middle ear) |
| 咽住 | yàn zhù | to suppress (a sob, harsh words etc) |
咽 appears in 27 compound words: 37 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 15 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 咽 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
妈妈咽嘱我要按时吃饭，注意身体健康。
mā mā yān zhǔ wǒ yāo àn shí chī fàn , zhù yì shēn tī jiàn kāng .
Mom urged me to eat on time and take care of my health.
港宏福苑听证会 居民忆述逃生 哽咽未能救邻
gǎng hóng fú 苑 tīng zhèng huì jū mín yì shù táo shēng gěng yān wèi néng jiù lín
Hong Kong's Hong Fook Court Hearing: Residents Recall Their Escape, Choking Back Tears Over Their Inability to Save Neighbors
长者吞咽功能影响健康 中市社会局、永信基金会合作...
cháng zhě tūn yān gōng néng yǐng xiǎng jiàn kāng zhōng shì shè huì jú , yǒng xìn jī jīn huì gě zuò . . .
Swallowing Function in the Elderly Affects Health: Taichung City Social Affairs Bureau Collaborates with the Yongxin Foundation...
美伊开战竟掐住“台湾咽喉”?专家曝1炼油副产品 恐一夕瘫痪半导...
měi yī kāi zhàn jìng qiā zhù tái wān yān hóu ? zhuān jiā pù 1 liàn yóu fù chǎn pǐn kǒng yī xī tān huàn bàn dǎo . . .
Could a U.S.-Iran War Strangle Taiwan’s Lifeline? Expert Reveals One Refinery Byproduct That Could Paralyze the Semiconductor Industry Overnight...
...antir再获升评 估值不再那么“难以下咽”
. . . a n t i r zài huò shēng píng gū zhí bù zài nà má nán yǐ xià yān
... Antir was upgraded again, and the valuation is no longer so "difficult to swallow"
中国网红“陈老师”被禁入台5年!哽咽怕撑不下去:可能要说再见了
zhōng guó wǎng hóng chén lǎo shī bèi jīn rù tái 5 nián ! gěng yān pà chēng bù xià qù : kě néng yāo shuō zài jiàn le
Chinese Internet celebrity "Teacher Chen" was banned from Taiwan for 5 years! Choking up for fear of not being able to hold on: I may have to say goodbye
别狼吞虎咽的。你最好细嚼慢咽地吃。
Bié lángtūnhǔyàn de. nǐ zuì hǎo xìjiáomànyàn de chī.
Stop inhaling your food. You should eat a little slower.
他狼吞虎咽地吃了一顿。
Tā lángtūn-hǔyàn de chī le yī dùn.
He devoured his meal.
不喝水我咽不下这些药片。
Bù hē shuǐ wǒ yān bù xià zhèxiē yàopiàn.
I can't swallow these tablets without a drink of water.
食物在吞咽前要经过咀嚼。
Shíwù zài tūnyàn qián yào jīngguò jǔjué.
Food should be chewed before being swallowed.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 咽 (yān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 咽 and 宽?
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What is the radical of 咽?
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What characters sound the same as 咽 (yān)?
Is 咽 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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