How to Write 嗄 (á) — Meaning “Hoarse”

Imagine a person yelling "Ah!" (á) so loudly in the summer (夏) that their mouth (口) becomes hoarse. This visual of summer shouting helps link the components to the meaning.

Write the left radical 口 small and high, then the right part 夏 stroke by stroke: top horizontal, the "目" section, then the bottom "夂" component. A common mistake is making 口 too large or misplacing the strokes of 夏—keep them balanced.

㕡 is very rare and means a pit or crater, unrelated to voice. 唪 is pronounced fěng and means to recite or chant loudly. Unlike 嗄 (hoarse voice), these characters have different radicals and meanings—嗄 uses 夏 for sound, while 唪 uses 奉.

嗄 is not common in everyday speech and appears mostly in medical or literary descriptions of a hoarse voice, such as 嗄声 (hoarse voice) or 嗄哑 (hoarse and husky). It is an advanced character not in the HSK list, so you will encounter it mainly in specialized texts.

Common words containing 嗄 include: 嗄声 (á shēng) — Hoarse voice; 嗄哑 (á yǎ) — Hoarse and husky; 嗄嗄 (á á) — Quacking sound.