About
The character "呵" is a phono-semantic compound formed by the mouth radical "口" and the component "可", which historically guided its pronunciation and contributed to its early association with vocal expressions. Originally used to depict sounds like laughter or gentle exhalation, its application gradually broadened to include verbal actions such as scolding or rebuking, leveraging the mouth radical's emphasis on speech, while also acquiring meanings related to breathing out, as seen in terms like "呵气". This progression from denoting simple audible interjections to encompassing both communicative acts and physical descriptions illustrates a shift in functional emphasis, and in contemporary usage, it frequently appears in informal digital contexts as a representation of laughter, highlighting its adaptation to evolving linguistic practices.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他呵呵地笑了。
妈妈呵护着孩子。
别呵斥小孩子。
呵呵，这真有趣。
他呵了一口气在玻璃上。
她小心翼翼地呵护着花园。
父亲呵斥了他的不负责任。
在寒冷的早晨，他呵出白雾。