音 (yīn): sound, noise, note (of musical scale)
音 (yīn) is a Chinese character meaning “sound.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 立 (structural) and 日 (structural). It ranks #540 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 音 a tongue 立 forming a sound in the mouth 日. Its radical form 音 (sound) appears in many related characters such as 章 (zhāng, chapter), 竟 (jìng, unexpectedly), 韵 (yùn, the final (of a syllable) (Chinese phonology)).
Definitions
- sound
- noise
- note (of musical scale)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA tongue 立 forming a sound in the mouth 日
Decomposition: ⿱立日 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 音 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 音
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 声音noun | shēng yīn | voice | 3 |
| 音乐noun | yīn yuè | music | 3 |
| 录音verb/noun | lù yīn | to record sound | 5 |
| 语音noun | yǔ yīn | speech sounds | 5 |
| 发音verb/noun | fā yīn | to pronounce | 5 |
| 音量noun | yīn liàng | loudness | 5 |
| 音节noun | yīn jié | syllable | 6 |
| 读音noun | dú yīn | pronunciation | 5 |
| 拼音verb | pīn yīn | phonetic writing | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 口音 | kǒu yīn | (linguistics) oral speech sounds |
| 嗓音 | sǎng yīn | voice |
| 福音 | fú yīn | good news |
| 高音 | gāo yīn | high pitch |
| 谐音 | xié yīn | homonym |
| 回音 | huí yīn | echo |
| 低音 | dī yīn | bass |
| 同音 | tóng yīn | (music) unison |
| 配音 | pèi yīn | dubbing (filmmaking) |
| 隔音 | gé yīn | soundproofing |
| 播音 | bō yīn | to transmit |
| 静音 | jìng yīn | quiet |
| 波音 | bō yīn | mordent (music) |
| 鼻音 | bí yīn | nasal sound |
| 收音 | shōu yīn | to receive a radio signal |
音 appears in 100 compound words: 12 as the first character, 88 as the last, and 0 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 音 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (27)
lit. the sound of footsteps in a deserted valley (idiom); fig. sth hard to come by; sth wonderful and rare
Showing 12 of 27 idioms containing 音.
Example Sentences
音字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
yīn zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "音" has different usages in different contexts.
张善政参访钜祥企业观音厂 勉共同打造桃园全球AI供应链
zhāng shàn zhèng cān fǎng 钜 xiáng qǐ yè guàn yīn hǎn miǎn gòng tóng dǎ zào táo yuán quán qiú A I gōng yīng liàn
Zhang Shanzheng visited the Guanyin Factory of Juxiang Enterprise to jointly build Taoyuan's global AI supply chain
227办第二届“熊山音乐会” 郭子毅诚邀民众户外音乐会
2 2 7 bàn dì èr jiè xióng shān yīn lè huì guō zǐ yì chéng yāo mín zhòng hù wài yīn lè huì
227 held the second "Bear Mountain Concert" Guo Ziyi sincerely invited the public to hold an outdoor concert
...数计时盼再拚一冠!谈家人罕见感性泪崩(影音)
. . . shǔ jì shí pàn zài 拚 yī guàn ! tán jiā rén hǎn jiàn gǎn xìng lèi bēng ( yǐng yīn )
... I look forward to winning another championship after a few hours! Talking about the rare emotional tears of the family (video)
2026“欢乐春节·新春音乐会”在悉尼歌剧院举行
2 0 2 6 huān lè chūn jié xīn chūn yīn lè huì zài xī ní gē jù yuàn jǔ háng
The 2026 "Happy Spring Festival and New Year Concert" will be held at the Sydney Opera House
新冬能·场外音丨陆玮鑫:冬奥会需引入“鹰眼挑战”系..
xīn dōng néng chǎng wài yīn 丨 lù 玮 鑫 : dōng ào huì xū yǐn rù yīng yǎn tiāo zhàn xì . .
New Winter Energy Off-Site Sound丨Lu Weixin: The Winter Olympics need to introduce the "Eagle Eye Challenge" system:
舞台上有著名音乐家吗？
Wǔtái shàng yǒu zhùmíng yīnyuèjiā ma?
Are there any famous musicians on the stage?
你知道音乐家什么时候来这儿吗？
Nǐ zhīdào yīnyuèjiā shénme shíhou lái zhèr ma?
Do you know when the musician will come here?
有人能发这个词的音吗？
Yǒurén néng fā zhège cí de yīn ma?
Can anyone pronounce this word?
你喜欢什么风格的音乐？
Nǐ xǐhuan shénme fēnggé de yīnyuè?
What kind of music do you like?
Character Family
音 Radical Family — Characters sharing the sound radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 音 (yīn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 音 have?
What is the radical of 音?
What are the components of 音?
What are common words containing 音?
What characters sound the same as 音 (yīn)?
Is 音 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 音 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.