About
The phono-semantic compound 嘴 pairs the mouth radical 口 on the left with the component 觜 on the right. The radical 口 anchors the character's meaning to the mouth or oral cavity, while 觜 supplies the pronunciation and contributes its own sense: 觜 originally referred to a bird's beak or an animal's snout. This suggests 嘴 at first denoted animal mouths before its meaning expanded. In modern Chinese, 嘴 is the standard colloquial word for a person's mouth or lips, largely replacing earlier terms in daily speech, though it can still describe the spout or nozzle of an object.
Example Sentences Hide
他张开了嘴巴。
妈妈叫我闭嘴。
她的嘴很甜。
弟弟嘴馋想吃糖。
别用嘴吹气球。
他说话太快，我插不上嘴。
小猫用嘴叼着一条鱼。
她忍不住张嘴打了个哈欠。