About
The character "吭" is structured with the mouth radical (口) combined with the phonetic component "亢", which itself carries connotations related to the throat or height. Etymologically, "吭" originally referred specifically to the throat, as evidenced in classical phrases like "引吭". Over time, its meaning extended to encompass the action of producing sound from the throat, resulting in a verbal sense meaning to utter or speak, now pronounced kēng, while the older noun sense for throat is pronounced háng. This shift from denoting a body part to describing its associated action is reflected in the character's consistent use of the mouth radical to indicate functions related to sound or speech.
Example Sentences Hide
小孩子吭了一声。
他不敢吭声。
你为什么总不吭气？
她吭哧了半天才回答。
在会议上，他始终不吭声。
即使被误会，他也没有吭声。
他吭吭哧哧地说明了情况。
面对严厉的指责，他吭都不吭一下。